By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 17: Vincent H. Pala may not remain the state Congress president when Meghalaya goes to the polls in 2028.
A senior party leader, refusing to be named, said the All India Congress Committee plans to remove Pala, although there is no clarity on who would replace him. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge was supposed to visit the state this month to solicit views, but could not due to health reasons.
“Discussions are on in Delhi, but we do not know who will replace (Pala). Due diligence will be done, and it will take time,” the leader told The Shillong Times.
He said the process may take six to seven months, but a change in leadership ahead of the 2028 polls “is confirmed”.
Asked if any leader who left the party might be given the responsibility to lead after rejoining, he said there is no space for a “fly-by-night president” and the constitution of the party disallows it.
The party leader said three to four names are on the radar of the AICC as possible candidates for the state president’s post. He refused to name any of them.
Congress, which once was a powerhouse in Meghalaya, has been undergoing a bad phase. It started when Pala donned the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee chief’s mantle in August 2021.
The party first lost 12 of its MLAs, including former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, when they merged with the Trinamool Congress in 2021. Ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections, five of its suspended MLAs quit and joined other parties, including the National People’s Party.
These five were suspended for extending support to the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
After the Assembly elections, many Congress MDCs in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council left the party and joined the NPP.
The grand old party received another jolt when three MLAs – Celestine Lyngdoh, Gabriel Wahlang, and Charles Marngar – joined the NPP, leaving Ronnie V. Lyngdoh as its lone legislator in the 60-member House. He, too, switched over to the NPP later.
A section of Congress leaders said that the MPCC chief should have stepped down immediately after the three MLAs joined the NPP.
