SHILLONG, Oct 9: MPCC president, Vincent Pala has asserted that the leaders who are leaving Congress for joining “rich” political parties on rent (Bhada) will not make any difference to the grand old party which is set to contest all the three seats in the upcoming bye-elections.
Pala on Saturday tauntingly said that when he was a businessman, he used to hire lot of trucks on run them on bhada and today, some political parties are taking leaders from Congress on bhaha (rent).
“We are a poor party and the present Government has a lot of money and the rich parties can take the leaders from Congress on rent but they cannot buy the voters,” he remarked.
The strong statement came from Pala after former Congress MDC and now NPP candidate, Lamphrang Blah termed the AICC decision to appoint Pala as MPCC chief as a ‘blunder’.
According to Pala, these political parties and leaders who are pointing fingers at Congress should look at themselves as after staying in Congress for many years, they left the party because another party wanted to take them on rent.
Pala without naming anybody said that these leaders never open their mouth if they want to contest the elections and they never even applied for ticket
“They are trying to purchase the leaders and try to divide the vote but I am confident that the real candidates who fight elections o serve the people will win the elections,” he said while informing that the Congress unit of Mawphlang is intact and nobody has left the party with the defector groups.
He said that similar is the case in Mawryngkneng where only a handful of people have left the unit.
He also predicted that if the elections are contested genuinely, the party will bag all the three constituencies.
No dissension
The Shillong MP played down the reports of internal squabbles in Congress especially some party MLAs being wary of his past machinations. He asserted that he has been assigned the task of party president not to please anybody but to serve the interest of the party and the state.
Denying any dissension, he said he is not aware about who is happy or unhappy with him even as he added that he has not even started functioning as the party president and he has not even called for any party meeting. “I don’t think there is such issue,” he said.
Informing that he would continue to visit all the blocks after the bye-elections, he said that he is a human being and it is not possible for him to please everybody and accept every suggestions. While expressing hope that if there are any issues, it would be resolved when they talk face to face and he is ready to discuss and accept their suggestions which are good for the party.
Making it clear that he is not in the party for personal or someone’s interest even if they are his best friends, he added that he will try to adjust and carry everyone along while attempts are being made to revive the party in view of the 2023 Assembly polls
When asked about the accusation that he fielded his own candidates against the official candidates of the party, he said “it is a perception”.
Recalling that time, in Mawryngkneng, there was a lot of pressure from Youth Congress to allot ticket to Bah Hep and he lost the elections by around 500 votes and he had thought that Bah Hep will win. He however said that later he realized that the late legislator David Nongrum was a good person and did a good job even as he recalled that time, he was not even in the election committee. “I was put as working president only after the election of candidates and in the past, there was no influence from my side and even in future, I don’t think there will be any influence from my side for election of candidates,” he said
Admitting that he may have committed mistakes in his earlier political innings, the MPCC chief added that he is trying to correct his mistakes.
Asserting that he is not going to put up any candidate from his side, Pala maintained that the candidates of the party will be decided by the people who vote and not by those who lead
The MLAs earlier had alleged that Pala had denied party tickets by convincing the AICC even after the recommendations of the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) of the MPCC during 2013 elections.
Citing an example, they stated that Charles Pyngrope’s son (L) David A. Nongrum, Cabinet Minister Paidang Lyngdoh from Mawkynrew and few others were denied party tickets in 2013 by Pala.
The MLAs and MDCs recalled that the AICC had finally awarded the party ticket to Pala’s close aide – Pynehborlang Mukhim from Mawryngkneng, Drola Khongjoh from Mawkynrew and Jropsing Nongkhlaw from Shella.
They also claimed that many of the party candidates from Khasi-Jaintia Hills had lost the 2018 Assembly elections since Pala had supported candidates from other parties.
