Shillong, Jan 17: Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the party will come back to power in Meghalaya due to the failure of the National People’s Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
Speaking to media persons on Tuesday, Gogoi said the people of the state are totally frustrated with the current MDA government because of the scams that keep coming up whether it is smart meters scam or the rice scam.
“People have lots of expectations but scams after scams, the failure to protect the citizens, the shootings that took place in Mawlai – all these have left huge holes in this government’s report card and I think the people are going to punish this government and are going to go back to the Congress party,” he said.
Gogoi, who is also the chairman of the screening committee of the MPCC to finalise the candidates, said all the candidates of the party are ready to fight the elections.
“We are just awaiting the announcement of the official dates by the Election Commission and the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee is going to put up a fantastic campaign in the days to come,” he said.
Gogoi said the AICC observer Mukul Wasnik and his team are visiting different parts of the state and meeting people including civil society organisations to gather information about what Meghalaya needs right now in terms of development, what the young people want and the major challenges.
“After this process, we will have a subsequent meeting in which the Congress will finalise the candidates with the approval of the president of the AICC and then the official list of candidates will be announced,” he said.
For the first time, the Congress will contest the Assembly elections without a single sitting legislator after all its 17 MLAs deserted the party and joined other political parties.
To a question, Gogoi, however, said the people are eager to see new candidates as they have in the past seen many political leaders jumping from one party to another and at the time of elections, these same people come with a lot of promises but fail to live up to their promises.
“Also, there were a lot of expectations from this government when it was formed in 2018 but they have failed on all their major expectations. So I think it gives people an opportunity that instead of being frustrated by looking at the same set of faces, they are looking at new people with a new set of ideas and new set of experiences and with a new set of outlook. I think it brings a lot of positive energy and optimism to our campaign,” he said.
On the AITC promises of providing direct cash benefit to women and youth, the Congress leader said, “…they have gone to other states with all these flashy advertisements and most of the candidates lost their deposits most recently in the elections of Goa. So let them try and waste some money here also. I come from a neighbouring state, I understand and I know what their political fortune is going to be.”
He also attacked the BJP for conducting a survey on the churches in Assam.
Gogoi said, “The BJP does not believe in the concept of religion. They do not believe all religions are equal whereas we are a party that framed the Constitution, we believe in the ethos of Indian civilisation and the Indian Constitution that all religions are equal and we have to live as brothers and sisters. In the North East, we have to live as brothers and sisters. We have our differences but that is our strength and that should not be used to divide us.”
