By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 18: The Voice of the People Party on Monday alleged that the Congress leadership in Meghalaya has transformed the party into a B team of the NPP and C team of the BJP. The vocal opposition party also accused the Congress leadership of working for the NPP in Meghalaya.
VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh said that disappointment is in store for the voters of the prestigious Shillong parliamentary constituency who believe that the Congress will be able to ably represent them in the Parliament.
“Their belief springs from the fact that the Congress theoretically stands for pluralism and secularism. However, the present leadership of the Congress in the state is doing exactly the opposite of what the people have been expecting,” he said.
Recalling that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, people of Shillong parliamentary constituency comprehensively voted for Vincent H Pala a some sort of revenge against the UDP’s decision to align with the NPP and the BJP, Myrboh said that the sitting Congress MP has worked against the interest of his own party and gone against the people who reposed their faith in him.
“It is an acknowledged fact that the NPP in Meghalaya could have survived and succeeded only if the Congress was weakened. This objective was successfully met by his (Pala’s) treacherous actions,” Myrboh said.
According to Myrboh, the Congress MP first ensured that the Congress strongman in the Garo Hills (read Mukul Sangma) along with his associates were out of the party, effectively removing the only stumbling block for the NPP.
“He even ensured that all the remaining Congress MLAs get suspended and leave the party to make things easier for the NPP,” Myrboh claimed.
He further stated that Sangmas of the NPP would have thanked the Congress MP profusely for being able to come back to power simply because of the fact that the Congress was completely weakened internally.
Reminding that the sitting Lok Sabha member and the Congress candidate was more friendly with leaders of the NPP than those from his own party, the VPP spokesperson recalled that after Agatha won the Lok Sabha bye-election in 2018, Pala personally paid a visit to congratulate her, showing how close they were in reality.
Pointing out that under Pala’s leadership, the Congress party supported the NPP in the KHADC, Myrboh suspected that Pala’s defeat in last year’s Assembly election could have been planned to help the NPP return to power in the state.
“His commitment to the task of making the NPP blossom further was evident by the steps he took to ensure that the INDIA alliance failed in Meghalaya. Therefore, it is safe to read and conclude that the current Congress leadership in Meghalaya has transformed the party into a B team of the NPP and therefore, indirectly, a C team of the BJP,” Myrboh added.