SHILLONG: Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) working president, Vincent Pala, exuded oodles of confidence when he stated on Tuesday that the Congress was sure to win 22-23 seats while projecting that in 44-45 seats the party will face a tough fight.
Explaining how the electoral contest this year is different from the previous Assembly polls, he said that the Congress was more equipped, experienced and very united this time around.
“It is a wrong message that the Congress is not united,” he said, adding that all parties are working against the Congress.
He pointed out that there are constituencies where other parties have not fielded candidates as they have come to a tacit understanding with the regional parties. The Congress, however, is different as it has declared candidates in all the 60 constituencies.
The Congress can’t be faulted with gender bias in its choice of candidates either, he said, as the party has fielded 7 women candidates in comparison with the BJP’s 2.
Detailing the achievements of the Mukul government, Pala pointed that the state can boast of bypass roads and the government has ironed out the law and order problems in the Garo Hills and Shillong, even as he claimed that Meghalaya has performed better than the other North-Eastern states that are either directly ruled by BJP or where BJP is in a coalition government with other regional parties.
“We are far better than them in terms of law and order. What was the problem of Meghalaya ten years back?” he said.
Referring to the days when law and order problems was at its peak in Garo Hills, Pala, then a businessman recalled he and other businessmen were served demand notes.
“Those things are not possible without a good government,” he added.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) media coordinator, Bobita Sharma who made a visit to the neighboring state of Assam recently criticized the BJP-led Assam government as a “Government which is doing event management,” by pointing to the festivals, global summit.
About the Global summit, she said, “Let’s see after a few years how many people will come and invest. There are no funds though they talk big about bringing funds but there is no fund has been released so far. Nothing is happening on the ground.”
Speaking about budget, she said, “We were expecting in the budget that at least they can show some step towards investment or to make the North Eastern region investment-friendly but they have not done so in this budget.”
Sharma slammed the BJP and its ally at the Center, National People’s Party (NPP), Sharma said, “The BJP and NPP are two sides of the same coin. BJP comes in the mask of NPP.”
