SHILLONG, Aug 18: The once-formidable Congress seems to be down and out in Meghalaya ahead of the Assembly elections, but state party chief Vincent H Pala is optimistic about the party bouncing back.
The grand old party is going about its revival mission quietly, he said on Thursday.
“The focus is on the political parties that make ‘halla-gulla’ but we in Congress are calm. You will soon see us doing well,” Pala said, insisting that the party has begun identifying the right candidates for the 2023 polls.
Congress has been losing ground in Meghalaya – its stronghold until a few years ago – like in many other states across the country
It suffered a jolt in November last year when 12 of its MLAs, including former Chief Minister Mukul M. Sangma and senior leader Charles Pyngrope, joined the Trinamool Congress.
If that were not enough, the remaining five Congress MLAs were suspended after they extended support to the NPP-led MDA government. The five – Ampareen Lyngdoh, PT Sawkmie, Mayralborn Syiem, Mohendro Rapsang and Kimfa Marbaniang – are tipped to join the NPP and the UDP.
“Our central leadership in Delhi usually issues us a circular indicating the dates by which the names of the candidates have to be sent for finalising the list of contestants. This will be done much ahead He said it is too early for him to predict how many seats Congress will win. “This is something the NPP and other parties do,” he added.
‘BJP concerned about personal interest’
Taking note of the ongoing rift within the BJP, Pala slammed the saffron party for putting personal interests above public interests.
“There is infighting in the BJP. AL Hek is saying one thing, party president Ernest Mawrie is saying another thing and the party’s in-charge (M Chuba Ao) is saying something else,” he said.
“BJP always claims to be for the public but we all know they only serve personal interests,” Pala said.