SHILLONG, Dec 2: Jolted by the desertion of 12 MLAs, the Congress has decided to infuse fresh blood to try and revive itself in the state.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP), which met on Thursday under the leadership of CLP leader Ampareen Lyngdoh, discussed the fallout of defection and strategy to revive the party ahead of next Assembly elections, due in 2023.
“We are neither disheartened nor looking back but going forward with a new zeal to ensure the party is revived again. We will induct new faces which will be beneficial for the party in the long run,” Lyngdoh told reporters after the meeting.
Making it clear that the party will support women candidates who have the winnability factor, Lyngdoh said the block units in the Assembly segments, represented by the 12 former Congress MLAs who are now with the Trinamool Congress, have been already dissolved and their sympathizers stripped of their positions to ensure there is no further dilution of the party.
The CLP leader said there is no question of calling back the 12 MLAs to the party fold. She said the disqualification petition filed against ten of them was a strategy and a similar petition will be filed against the remaining two MLAs – Charles Pyngrope and Shitlang Pale – on December 10.
Asked about the resignation of a large number of NSUI members, Lyngdoh said when the group of MLAs was leaving, the party had recommended the dissolution of the NSUI’s state unit to avoid further disintegration.
Lyngdoh lamented the division in the Opposition. She refused to comment on the party’s future strategy if the Speaker gives his ruling in favour of the defectors.
After the desertion of its all eight MLAs from Garo Hills, the Congress now does not have a single MLA in the region. However, the CLP leader claimed the party will easily win five seats if the elections are held tomorrow.
“We will get not less than five seats in Garo Hills. Things will improve further down the line,” Lyngdoh said.
She also said that 12-13 months is a long time in politics and the Congress will further build its base in Garo Hills.
“Don’t say that Garo Hills is faceless now. Don’t give importance to just one face,” she said, adding the Congress is all about teamwork and not a one-man show.
No more desertion, Mayralborn asserts
Congress leader and Nongpoh MLA Mayralborn Syiem on Thursday sounded confident that none of the five remaining legislators will quit the party.
Asserting that he would stick with the Congress, come what may, Syiem said, “I am what I am today because of the Congress. I have been with the party since 1998 as youth member.”
He made it clear that leaders will come and go but the party and its ideology will remain.
Drawing reference from history, he said, “There were ups and down faced by the INC during the Emergency in 1977 leading to the downfall of the Congress party under the leadership of late Indira Gandhi. In 1991, after the death of late Rajiv Gandhi, a new leadership took over. Again under Sitaram Kesri the party suffered a downfall but Sonia Gandhi took over and the party bounced back.”
He pointed out that nobody should be surprised by the rise of one party and the fall of another as it was part of the political atmosphere. “The BJP in 1982 had only two MPs AND now they have more than 300. The Congress number has come down since 2014 but it will bounce back.”