SHILLONG, Feb 21: Days after five Congress MLAs were suspended by the party for their independent decision to back the state government, there are now reports that four of them will soon join other political parties.
Senior Congress leader, PN Syiem, however, said there is no such indication from the MLAs.
“The dynamics of politics can change but there are no signs that they will leave the party,” Syiem told reporters when Erwin K Sutnga officially joined the Congress.
According to media reports, PT Sawkmie and Mayralborn Syiem are looking to join the United Democratic Party while Ampareen Lyngdoh and Kimfa Marbaniang may join the National People’s Party (NPP). Mohendro Rapsang is likely to stay in the Congress.
Syiem dismissed the perception that the Congress will not do well in next year’s Assembly elections as it does not seem to have any MLA now. He said the MLAs are suspended and not attached to party’s policy decision.
Syiem exuded confidence the Congress will fare well claiming that the voters are still with the party. To prove his point, he cited the case of the NPP which took its tally of MLAs to 20 from two in 2013.
“We have a good vote-bank in every constituency. For a big organization like us, we will not have any problem in winning a good number of seats,” he said.
Stating that the Congress has new faces, new vision and support base, he expressed optimism that the party will bounce back. He added that discussions are on and some more leaders might join the Congress soon.
