SHILLONG, Oct 2: The on-going Congress infighting appears to be inching towards a possible thaw after MPCC president, Vincent Pala and Leader of the Opposition Mukul Sangma finally met one-to-one here on Saturday for ironing out the irritants.
Later Pala clarified that Mukul had nothing against him personally but was unhappy with the AICC for the manner of appointing the MPCC chief.
Pala told reporters that Sangma was sore with the AICC for appointing the president without consulting with the CLP or the senior leaders of the party. “Personally there is nothing between him and me” he said repeatedly.
From all accounts available, it seems TMC’s wait for roping in Mukul Sangma is going to be long. The former chief minister has been summoned to Delhi for a dialogue with Sonia Gandhi on Monday. Mukul Sangma is scheduled to leave for Delhi on Sunday.
On reports of Mukul Sangma’s bid to break away from the party along with few other congress MLAs, Pala tried to played it down saying, “I am yet to find out the details as I returned from Delhi late last night”.
He however said, “I know the MLAs had a meeting at Dr Mukul’s place and when I asked them, they said that it was a normal meeting. Whenever the CLP meets they always have discussions about elections and party matters and I don’t think there is much beyond that”.
When reporters pointed out that a few Congress MLAs had themselves informed that there was an attempt by the CLP leader to persuade the Congress MLA’s for joining TMC, Pala said, “We have a system in the party where we have the disciplinary action if somebody complains and we also have a system to address all these issues.
Enquired about the report sought by the AICC on the prevailing situation in the State Congress camp, Pala said, “AICC had asked over the phone if there was a problem and I do not think they have asked for any such report. Speculation is more but nobody tells the truth”.
“I want to be transparent when we have committee in place when we inquire and if AICC asks for a report, definitely we will give them a transparent and fair report. As of now I have not received any indication that they require a formal report.
On reports of a few congress MLAs approaching the AICC to remove Mukul Sangma as the CLP leader, Pala said, “May be that is a perception or desire of one or two. Congress is a big family push and pull will always be there but ultimately collective decisions will be final and I don’t think that will be a problem”.
Asked for his assessment of the current prevailing situation in the congress, Pala said, “We may have different views but what binds us together is the party and the decision of the high command and definitely there is nothing much to worry about the performance of the party”.
Meanwhile, PCC working president Ampareen Lyngdoh also tried to play down the controversy. She said ‘Congress is larger than personalities’.
Opinions are very forthcoming in our party because we are democratic in nature and the democratic situation like the party constitution gives us the space to discuss a lot of these issues”.
She believes that the developments last week were election related and pointed out that soon after the announcement of the bye polls, “our political opponents are trying to cash in and distract the faith that the public has in our party and we will prove it to them we are united,” she added.
