SHILLONG, Dec 23: Battered by the departure of several senior leaders, the Congress in Meghalaya is now banking on its young and fresh faces to win the Assembly elections, expected in February.
The party on Friday said majority of its candidates will be young and fresh faces besides IT professionals, engineers and MBA graduates. The party will field six women.
State Congress chief Vincent Pala said the party’s State Election Committee (SEC) will sit on December 29 and finalise the names of 14 candidates.
Stating that different committees such as campaigning committee, manifesto committee and research and training committees have been constituted, he said the names of the candidates will not be hidden from the public after the SEC approves the same.
According to Pala, the party had been quiet for some time as poaching was taking place but now, it stepped up its activities as the elections are just two months away. He disclosed that 16 former MLAs and MDCs will be among the party’s candidates.
“Anti-incumbency is high. We are preparing the chargesheet and party’s roadmap,” Pala said, adding it is a usual trend that 55% of the sitting MLAs will lose the elections.
Meanwhile, Celestine Lyngdoh, who heads the manifesto committee, said the Congress is promising to plug all the revenue leakages taking place in the state and constituting a special committee to study tourism scenarios in places like Bhutan and Sikkim where tourism is benefitting the locals.
‘NPP, BJP taking
people for a ride’
The Congress attacked the BJP and the National People’s Party (NPP) for allegedly taking the people of the state for a ride with hollow promises.
Stating that history stands testimony to the fact that the BJP and the NPP are habitual liars, Pala said the two parties are indulging in lies and nothing else. Likening the BJP to a theatre artiste, he reminded the party of its threat to pull out of the government and send the CBI and the ED to Meghalaya to stop corruption in the government. He criticised it for failing to resume coal mining within 180 days as promised in its last election manifesto.
The Congress also slammed the BJP and the NPP for allegedly poaching its leaders, stating that it produced many candidates but they were bought by these ruling parties. Pala said most of their leaders have a Congress past.
The BJP’s many aspiring candidates, be it HM Shangpliang, Ferlin CA Sangma or Highlander Kharmalki, are from different political parties.
“The BJP is trying to organize itself but nobody wants to fight elections from the BJP, whereas the NPP is trying to lure strong leaders,” Pala said.
He claimed that not just Banteidor Lyngdoh, the NPP is also approaching Congress leaders and candidates with offers of crores of rupees.
