SHILLONG, Nov 21: The Congress party may be down but it is definitely not out. At least, this now seems to be the mantra of the grand old party in Meghalaya.
From winning 21 seats in the 2018 Assembly elections to being without any MLA in the 60-member Assembly, the Congress has suffered a string of setbacks but is confident of rising like a phoenix from the ashes in 2023.
Where does this confidence stem from? The question has been answered by the party itself.
The party is banking on the big list of bloopers of the National People’s Party led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, primarily the issue of corruption, to go to the people and seek their mandate for 2023.
The party’s belief in a good outing in the Assembly polls can also be gauged from the fact that it is planning to rope in top leaders and star campaigners like Shashi Tharoor, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Kanhaiya Kumar ahead of the polls.
A Congress functionary told The Shillong Times on Monday that the party will attack the NPP and the Government – left, right and centre – on the issue of corruption.
“We are going to fight the upcoming election keeping in mind the plethora of allegations of corruption that have surfaced time and again in the state in the last five years. People are fed up of all the scams, be it in the MeECL or any other department,” the Congress leader said, preferring to remain anonymous.
Admitting that the Congress does not have any MLA, the leader said the party still enjoys a strong vote base in Meghalaya and will do well in the election if it fields good candidates.
The Congress functionary was confident that with prominent names like Vincent H Pala, Ronnie V Lyngdoh and Pynshngainlang N Syiem leading the party, it would spring a surprise in 2023.
Downplaying the lack of big names and able leaders in the Congress, the party functionary said the Congress has been known to produce top leaders and would continue to do so.
The official also downplayed any threat from the Trinamool Congress saying the party from Bengal will have to start with the spadework before embarking on their political journey in Meghalaya. The TMC has to create a vote bank in the state which is always a time-consuming affair, the Congress leader said.
The party leader predicted some close contests in the Garo Hills region and was assertive that the NPP was yet to gain significant traction in the western part of the state.
