Shillong, Dec 23: Congress chief Vincent H Pala on Friday said there is growing infightings within the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls.
“The infighting among the coalition partners of the MDA will be more as the elections approach. The Congress will have a mileage where we are working unitedly within the party to fight against the other parties,” Pala told reporters.
He was referring to the recent complaint filed by the UDP to the CEC against the ruling NPP for allegedly misusing the government’s schemes – FOCUS and FOCUS+.
“We agree with the UDP which has lodged a complaint against the NPP because they are in the government they know better than us,” Pala said.
The Congress chief further slammed the BJP and NPP for making false promises to the people of Meghalaya. He cited that the BJP lied when it assured in its 2018 election manifesto to restart coal mining within 180 days while NPP did nothing to fulfil its promises to conduct many job recruitments.
Further, he said the BJP also lied by not withdrawing support to the MDA government and not sending the ED and CBI to probe into various allegations of corruption against the government.
When asked, Pala admitted that not only MLAs but even candidates of the party are getting poached by other parties and said that most of the candidates of the BJP and NPP are ex-Congress leaders.
“Congress is like a manufacturing industry in the sense that we train and we educate but somebody comes and buys them but we still have enough candidates with us so we are not really worried,” he said.
Confident to cross half-way mark
The opposition Congress expressed confidence to cross the half-way mark in 2023.
The first list of 46 candidates will be finalized by the Meghalaya Pradesh Election Committee (MPEC) on December 29. The list will be submitted to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) for its approval.
“Out of 46 seats, we should be able to get more than 30 because the under current is very strong for the Congress this time,” Pala said.
Referring to meetings held in constituencies like Mawphlang, Sohiong and Nongthymmai where the party is fielding new faces, Pala claimed that the response of the people was quite good.
“We are ready for the elections. If we give good qualified candidates who are free from any corruption, people will turn to the Congress this time. Our job is to give the best candidates. That is why we are confident that the Congress on its own will cross 30 seats,” he added.
Gearing up for the 2023 polls, the AICC had recently approved the constitution of the 11-member Meghalaya Pradesh Election Committee (MPEC) to be headed by Pala and a 16-member Pradesh Campaign Committee under the chairmanship of former MPCC chief Dr Celestine Lyngdoh.
Pala said that the first meeting of the MPEC will be held on December 29, to finalise 46 names of the candidates for approval of the AICC.
