SHILLONG, Nov 5: Congress working president, Ampareen Lyngdoh on Friday called for actions against “erroneous behaviour” vis-à-vis infighting so the party can survive in the state.
“If the Congress has to survive this onslaught, it has to start taking actions. I do not know how my colleagues may feel about it but we have been discussing in-house how we can weed out erroneous behaviour,” Lyngdoh said, reacting to allegations that some Congress leaders campaigned for the United Democratic Party candidates in certain areas.
Stating that the Congress has a mechanism to deal with such behaviour, she said, “We are beyond that stage where we will say the internal problems are not affecting us.”
Lyngdoh also said that the Congress must find out what made some MDCs quit the party overnight to contest the by-elections from other parties.
“The agenda of the ruling dispensation has been to break the Congress’s support base at any cost. The Congress suffered because somebody is trying to break it and that is what our party has to work on,” she said.
Stressing on the need to build loyalists who will not leave the party high and dry, Lyngdoh recalled how some MLAs, who had been seasoned Congressmen, deserted the party in 2017.
“We understand that they were not happy with somebody in the party but why has our party been beaten like that? You are upset with one person but you forget your loyalty to the party,” she said.
Talking about factors going against the Congress in the by-elections, she said, “The flow of money during elections is something that every citizen of the state needs to ponder upon. The fact that my vote is available for sale and I won’t go and cast my vote if somebody does not give me a bonus is sad”.
Lyngdoh made light of the NPP’s victory in Mawryngkneng by 1,800 plus votes stating it was a marginal win. She said it was surprising that the Congress lost the Rajabala seat despite various reports predicting its win. She said the Congress must find out why the verdict went against the party.
“We understand as we had alleged the misuse of power and government machinery, questions will be raised why we did not file a case or substantiate our charge. It is going to be next to impossible for us to do so. But having been on the ground, I know that was a major factor in the by-poll,” Lyngdoh claimed.
Reacting to the allegation that party leader Mukul Sangma had not campaigned enough for the party candidates, she said, “We will place the allegation before the party and see how many meetings were attended by the party conveners and how many were not attended by the MLAs, party functionaries”.
“We will do an in-house evaluation and soul searching. We are not ready to give up. When an MLA is elected, it is not just about being in the government. Our role is equally important as a member of the Opposition,” she added.