Will come back in a big way: Congress

SHILLONG, SEPT 4: Opposition Congress today claimed that it is going to come back to power in Meghalaya.

“The recent failure does not mean that it is the end of the Congress. We will come back and we will come back in a big way,” Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) chief Celestine Lyngdoh told reporters here on Tuesday.

He was rebutting at the ruling National People’s Party (NPP)’s allegations that the Congress days are over in the state following the party’s defeat in the just concluded bye-elections to the South Tura and Ranikor seats.

Stating that it is very difficult for any person to claim that he is a prophet, Lyngdoh said, “Nobody can foretell what is in the future because the Congress is determined to work hard.”

Also reacting on this, Congress national spokesperson and MP from Assam Gaurav Gogoi said that if the NPP thinks that they are so strong then why they need the support of allies.

Recalling the claims made by the NPP that it doesn’t need the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the Assembly election campaigns, Gogoi said, “If they are so strong as they claimed they should reject the BJP’s support but they are not able to.”

“See during elections tall claims are made that is common but the facts are they (NPP) are not able to form the government on their own,” he added.

The NPP is at present leading the six-party Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government which comprised of United Democratic Party, People’s Democratic Front, Bharatiya Janata Party, Hill State People’s Democratic Party, Nationalist Congress Party and 3 Independents.

Asked what prevented the Congress, which is having 20 MLAs in the 60-member House to get allies to form the government, the MPCC chief however said, “To form a government you need to have partners who are like-minded. So when the other partners are not yet willing to join hands, we are willing to wait and there is no rush as our time will come.”

On the other hand, Congress state spokesperson and Rangsakona legislator Zenith Sangma said that the people of Meghalaya did not give clear mandate to any political party as both the NPP and Congress got 20 seats each.

Stating that the Congress was in the government for consecutively nine years, Sangma said, “Since we did not get single majority, we prefer to give chance to the NPP along with the BJP to form the government and also give time to the people to see whether NPP can fulfil the big promises made during the elections when they are in the helm of affairs.”

Meanwhile, the spokesperson however said when the appropriate time comes definitely the Congress will make its moves even as he refused to comment further by saying “everything cannot be divulged in politics”.

By Our Reporter