SHILLONG:
Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Vincent H Pala is confident that the party’s fresh, young candidates with clean image will bring back the glory days of the Grand Old Party in the 2023 assembly polls.
Informing that the Congress’ prospects in the 2023 polls are “very good” as most of its candidates are new to politics and are free of corruption charges, the Shillong MP said, “If we look from that angle, the Congress will be the only party which has young and fresh faces. Be it in the Khasi or Garo Hills, we are the only party which will be fielding good candidates both in terms of qualification and sincerity. Our target is to field from all the 60 seats.”
Pala informed that the Congress is working to organise the party in the grassroot level and till date, only 20 to 25 per cent of the constituencies remain and the party workers are on the job to cover them.
“We have not yet finalised the candidates but we have prospecting candidates who are already on the ground. Finalisation of the candidates will be done once the election is notified and we will call for applications,” said the MPCC chief.
According to him, the party has ticket aspirants in almost all the constituencies who are determined to fight the elections and newcomers from Laitumkhrah, Nongthymmai and Ri Bhoi will be inducted in the party on July 9.
Underplaying the setback, the party experienced when 17 of its sitting MLAs left the party, the MPCC chief said that Congress’ vote bank is very much intact and when the time comes, they will vote for the Grand Old Party.
“It does not depend on the MLAs; it depends on the voters. It is very easy to say this and that but end if the day, it is the voters who take the final call,” he said, rubbishing National People’s Party leader Timothy D Shira’s claims that the Congress will taste “bitterness” in the upcoming polls.
As to who will be the face of the party, the Congress chief, who is going to contest from Sutnga-Saipung constituency, said, “Man proposes, God disposes. I don’t know as we have not yet decided. Normally, Congress doesn’t decide the candidate in advance except when we have a sitting CM.”
On the party’s stand on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s decision to field a tribal woman as its presidential candidate, Pala said that it is a call which the Congress high command will take.
“When it comes to politics, we (the Congress) don’t go by tribes or religion. We go by party line and whatever the party decides, we will look into that,” he asserted.