SHILLONG, Sep 23: Congress leader, Charles Pyngrope believes the party will be able to iron out internal differences through dialogues and if need be, with the intervention of party’s national president Sonia Gandhi.
“One can observe that there is some misunderstanding among the members of the party. In my opinion, this can be resolved through dialogues and possibly, with the intervention of the AICC president,” Pyngrope said on Thursday.
He said Leader of Opposition, Mukul Sangma himself has said he was not consulted ahead of Shillong MP, Vincent Pala’s appointment as the party’s state president. If that is true, the intervention of party president is necessary to make sure there is consensus, Pyngrope said.
He expressed ignorance over reports about Mukul meeting Trinamool Congress leaders.
Asked about the possible defection of disgruntled Congress MLAs to the BJP, Pyngrope said, “There are no disgruntled MLAs. Right from 2013, the BJP’s strength has not increased and I don’t see it going up in the House in the future. But this is politics and I can always be proved wrong”.
Talking about the BJP’s confidence about growing at the expense of the Congress by cashing in on its internal feud, Pyngrope said, “That is what they claim but we have a different opinion. We are not a divided house. We are a house which needs to do a little introspection.”
Pyngrope also said that the Congress with its roots deep down into the ground is surely a party that can be trusted.
Explaining why the Congress cosied up to its former leaders, he said, “This approach was needed because some may have left for some political reasons. So, we thought they should be called back,” he said.
Congress Spokesperson, Zenith Sangma clarified that the party MLAs from Garo Hills skipping party functions does not mean they are deserting the party. He admitted there are grievances but said the issues will be flagged before the high command.
“There are lots of grievances to be flagged before the high command and they will be resolved internally. We have already demonstrated our grievances asking why everyone is not taken into confidence before a decision is made,” Zenith said.
“All these things need to be spelt out transparently. I think the high command will look into the matter,” he said.
Asked if he is happy with Pala’s leadership, Zenith said, “The question of being happy or unhappy does not arise. Leadership is leadership and running the party is a collective responsibility. The only thing is how the leader approaches and how he functions. It all depends on that”.
Asked if he foresees Congress MLAs defecting to other parties, he said, “Nothing is final in politics. I can say only about myself, not about others. This political dynamic is not static, so I cannot rule out anything.”
