By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 27: Former Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA George B Lyngdoh on Friday declined the offer of state Congress chief Vincent H Pala to join the grand old party and contest the district council election as its candidate.
He made it clear that he is not going to contest the district council election.
“We had a discussion with all the leaders under the banner of the Umroi Constituency Progressive Forum (UCPF). We decided that we cannot accept the offer of the MPCC president,” Lyngdoh told reporters on Friday.
“The reason is the political atmosphere in Umroi demands that we remain independent,” he added.
Earlier, Pala had stated that he met Lyngdoh and requested him to return to the Congress.
Asked if he will be contesting as an independent candidate, Lyngdoh, who is the spokesperson of UCPF, said, “I will not be contesting the MDC polls. The decision taken by the group is that we will not be joining the Congress and I will not be contesting.”
Replying to another query, he said, “Nothing has changed much in the Congress. There is nothing which seems to be conducive enough for rejoining. That is my personal opinion and not of the UCPF.”
He and several other MLAs, including Mukul Sangma and Charles Pyngrope, had quit the Congress and joined the TMC in 2022, just months ahead of the Assembly elections.
Talking about Pala’s equation with Mukul Sangma, Lyngdoh said if the two leaders had worked together in the past, the Congress would have be a prominent party now.
He, however, did not foresee any chance of the two leaders coming together, even if much desired, referring to Mukul’s recent press conference where he made it clear that he would not rejoin Congress.
Mukul, however, did not rule out the possibility of floating a political party in the near future.
Pala has made it clear that if Mukul decides to return to the Congress, he has to take into confidence leaders like Tura MP Saleng Sangma and Deborah Marak.