SHILLONG, March 13: Sitting Lok Sabha member from Shillong and MPCC president, Vincent H. Pala on Sunday made it clear that he has no plan to contest the Lok Sabha polls next year from another party.
Speaking with The Shillong Times, Pala said he had no reason to quit the Congress, especially after managing to “revive” the grand old party in Meghalaya.
There are speculations that Pala is seeking greener pastures elsewhere after the dismal performance of the Congress in the recent Assembly polls in the state where the party managed to win five seats.
Sources had said that Pala’s prospect of retaining the Shillong Lok Sabha seat looks bleak and hence he might join the NPP and contest from the new party.
Dismissing the speculations, Pala said if he had really planned to leave the Congress then it should have happened at a time when everyone was deserting the party.
“I am going to seek re-election from the Shillong seat for a fourth term as a Congress candidate. The question of contesting from the NPP does not arise. There is no truth in the reports that I am in talks with the NPP leadership,” the Shillong Lok Sabha MP said.
Pala had, on Saturday, said that he was unaware about any move within the State Congress to remove him from the post of the president of the grand old party.
“May be there is move by some of the party leaders to install a new party chief in Meghalaya. But nothing has come to my knowledge about such a move,” Pala had said.
Meanwhile, the Congress leader said that he was waiting for the Budget session of the Parliament to end before committing himself to the party affairs in the state.
“I will start touring across the state to rebuild the Congress as soon the Parliament session is over,” the MPCC chief said.
He said the party’s next target is the KHADC and JHADC elections scheduled next year.
“We will be putting up candidates in all the 29 seats in both KHADC and JHADC,” he said.
Pala also was confident that the party would witness a brighter future under the new team.
