SHILLONG, April 28: Suspended Congress leader, Ampareen Lyngdoh on Thursday said she and the four other suspended party MLAs have decided not to take any further call on their political affiliation to the party.
Reacting to their suspension by the AICC, Lyngdoh said they in any case have been under suspension since February this year.
She said prior to their move to support the MDA government, a discussion was initiated within the party in the presence of AICC general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya, Manish Chatrath.
She said the state government is led by NPP and its coalition partners are UDP, PDF, HSPDP and others.
Lyngdoh lamented that although their decision to support the government was for all the right reasons, the state Congress leadership had decided to suspend them.
She said the five of them will wait for three years and may return to the Congress thereafter.
“But this decision to suspend us means the party doesn’t want us to return before three years,” Lyngdoh said.
Asked if the AICC was trying to prevent them from contesting the Assembly elections next year, she said that no political party can disable their candidature.
She said the affiliation of the five MLAs to the Congress is deep. She also said they are still united and have not joined any other political party. “We have made no moves. As far as 2023 polls are concerned, my people – and not my party or I – will decide whether or not I should be a candidate. Our supporters will decide our fate,” Lyngdoh said, adding she is certain she will be in the poll fray.
“We will have to find a platform to contest the elections. All five of us are preparing for 2023,” she said.
On the claim of state Congress chief, Vincent H Pala that many of them regret supporting the government, Lyngdoh said she cannot regret after having decided with her colleagues to support the MDA.
“When we decide, we decide as responsible leaders. We know what we did and we did it after evaluation. We did it taking into account the pros and cons of our decision,” Lyngdoh said.
She also said that somebody is trying to create confusion but the five of them are not confused.