SHILLONG: The Congress has accepted the resignation of DD Lapang and the party’s door was finally closed for the veteran leader.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, MPCC chief Celestine Lyngdoh said the party would no longer reconcile with the leader.
“The party has accepted Lapang’s resignation and the Congress’s door was closed for him”, Lyngdoh said.
Lyngdoh said the AICC took the “right decision” by removing Lapang as the MPCC chief before the Assembly elections in February since he was ailing.
Lyngdoh said, “How can a party go to Assembly polls when its president is in and out of the hospital? During the height of our campaign not only Dr Lapang but even his wife was in hospital. It was a stressful period for Dr Lapang and the AICC felt it was proper to relieve him from the post of MPCC chief.”
Lyngdoh also agreed that AICC chief Rahul Gandhi wanted to bring a new face into the party. “He (Rahul) always wanted to give young leaders an opportunity to serve the party in various positions.”
The MPCC chief reiterated that since the party was not in power in the state, accommodating senior members in a position where they serve the people of the State does not arise.
“May be this could be one of the reasons why Dr Lapang left the party,” the MPCC chief said.
Bitter end
To a query, Lyngdoh said it would not be right to say that Lapang’s journey with the Congress ended on a bitter note. “We must admit the fact that whatever positions Dr Lapang had held in his political career, it was because of the Congress party. It was the Congress who made Dr Lapang five-time chief minister of the state,” the Congress chief said.
“If he (Dr Lapang) had said that he would resign from active politics, the party would have felicitated him in a big way. He decided other way round all by himself. As the party, we are very thankful to the service rendered by Dr Lapang to the party,” he added.
