SHILLONG, March 3: State Congress chief, Vincent H Pala on Friday said the Congress will support any government that does not have BJP and NPP.
“We don’t have any problem working with any parties as long as it is a non-BJP government. The ideologies of the Congress and the BJP are very different. We cannot join any coalition which has the BJP,” Pala told reporters.
He said the fractured mandate had paved the way for the various political parties to come together and form a government without the NPP and the BJP. He said the UDP had approached the Congress to work together.
After emerging from a meeting of various political parties, newly-elected Congress Legislature Party leader, Ronnie V Lyngdoh said the parties decided to come together to form a coalition government.
He said it is the Governor’s prerogative to invite the NPP to form the government since it emerged as the single largest party in the polls.
“We have not taken any decision to stake claim to form the government. This is only our first meeting,” he said.
With the Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) failing to win a good number of seats, Pala said the Congress was once a formidable force but some leaders destroyed themselves as well as the party.
His veiled attack was on Mukul Sangma who deserted the Congress along with 11 other MLAs and joined the TMC in November 2021.
Pala said the Congress is in the process of reviving itself keeping in mind MDC and Lok Sabha elections next year.
“We started from zero this election but got 15% vote share and 5 MLAs. We should do well in the MDC and Lok Sabha elections because issues and strategies are different in different elections,” he said.
Claiming that there is nothing wrong in the Congress, he said the BJP could not improve upon its 2018 performance despite working hard and spending more money. He said the TMC and the UDP also failed to impress with their performances.
He said people were confused and there was “fluctuation” of votes after the series of defections of MLAs in the lead-up to the elections.
He claimed the people in Garo Hills gave their mandate not for any good work but because a huge amount of money was spent during elections.
“There is a wide gap between the rich and the poor and the rich are taking advantage of the poverty of people which is a dangerous trend we are facing in the state,” Pala said.
