By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 10: Former Chief Minister and TMC leader Mukul Sangma as well as party leader Charles Pyngrope are yet to send any feelers to their ex-party about their return to the Congress party, according to the working president of Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), Pynshngain N Syiem.
“So far we have not received any feedback from any of the five TMC MLAs,” Syiem said while speaking to The Shillong Times here on Sunday.
He also stated that there is no truth in the report that Pyngrope has set a condition that he is ready to return to the Congress only if he is given the post of the party’s state chief.
According to him, he does not see that the TMC MLAs will consider the Congress as an option taking into account the present political scenario in the state. It may be recalled that AICC secretary in charge of Meghalaya, Manish Chatrath, had claimed that some former Congress leaders in the state were in touch with him for a re-entry into the party.
He declined to take any names when asked if former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma was one of these leaders.
“The MPCC president has to forward to the AICC the formal proposals by those who wish to return to the party,” he had informed, adding that there were several such cases in Karnataka.
Chatrath said some of those keen on returning to Congress are in touch with the senior leaders of the party while others had met him.
“In a political system, people always want to return when you start winning again,” he said.
Chatrath, however, said the MPCC chief would be in a better position to answer if there are former leaders who are keen on returning to the party.
Meanwhile, the MPCC working president said that the outcome of the Assembly elections in the four states, especially in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, would not have any impact on the party in Meghalaya.
“I do not see any setback for the Congress since the strategies of fighting the election in each and every state election is different. But the BJP decision to not project any CM candidates in these Assembly elections is a master stroke and it has benefitted the saffron party,” the MPCC working president said.
He added that he does not sense any threat to sitting MP of the party from Shillong, Vincent H Pala since the people would again repose their faith in him in 2024.
“We have seen the voting pattern as people would prefer the candidate of a national party to represent them in the Parliament. We have the BJP and Congress as the two major national parties in Meghalaya. But the people from Khasi-Jaintia region are not accepting the BJP. The only option left is the Congress,” the MPCC working president said.
Syiem further said that another factor which will go in favour of Pala is his quality as a political leader — being approachable, especially when they reach out to him in Delhi.
Further, he said that the party is not in a rush to announce its candidate since they have a sitting MP for the Shillong seat.
