SHILLONG, Oct 5: Lamphrang Blah, the Congress MDC from Mawphlang who joined the NPP on Tuesday, slammed the AICC for appointing Vincent H. Pala as the MPCC chief.
He said the central leadership of Congress did not respect the recommendations of the MLAs and MDCs of the state.
“Majority of the MLAs and MDCs had proposed a leader who can carry everyone along as the MPCC president. But the AICC in Delhi decided otherwise by installing Pala as the president,” Blah told reporters after the NPP declared him as its candidate for the Mawphlang Assembly seat.
He said the disappointment of Congress Legislature Party chief Mukul Sangma with the AICC decision was understandable.
A majority of the Congress MLAs and MDCs from the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region had wanted senior leader Charles Pyngrope as the candidate for Mawphlang.
Blah said Congress erred by first dropping DD Lapang as the MPCC president ahead of the 2018 elections. “I was disappointed by that decision,” he added.
“Everyone has the ambition to grow in their political career. I felt the NPP is the right platform being a national party,” Blah said.
Lapang’s switchover to the NPP also played a part in his decision to leave Congress, he said.