Meghalaya Congress spokesperson and Mylliem MDC Ronnie Lyngdoh tried to put a positive spin on the condition of the party in the state today, saying that it still has the support and goodwill of the public.
His comment comes a day after the party's five remaining MLAs decided to offer support to the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government without consulting the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), the party’s MDCs or high command in New Delhi.
On this subject, Lyngdoh told Highland Post that the MPCC will sit for a meeting shortly to decide the next course of action. It seems likely that the five MLAs took the decision to support the government with the intention of being expelled from the Congress. That way they would be free to join any other party of their choice and not be tarnished as defectors.
“They (the five) never informed or consulted the party about this step and everyone was kept in the dark until they revealed it to the media yesterday,” Lyngdoh stated.
On the health of the party, he said, “We are no doubt facing a huge problem but I believe that there are no such problems that cannot be overcome because we still have the support and goodwill of the people of the state.” He recalled that in 2018, despite the anti-incumbency factor working against the Congress, the party still managed to win 21 seats and lost by a narrow margin in several constituencies.
“To consider that the Congress is totally finished is wishful thinking of a few people,” Lyngdoh, who happened to lose his Assembly seat in 2018, said, adding that the party is still attractive to politicians looking to make a run in the 2023 elections.
What makes the move of the five MLAs all the more impossible to swallow is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a member of the MDA and it is anathema for the two parties to work together.
“Congress stands for secularism, pluralism and inclusivity and does not believe in the empty rhetoric of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ of the Prime Minister, who never utters a word when minorities are discriminated and lynched,” the MDC said.
While the five MLAs look to be on their way out of the party, it has been rumoured that the Congress' MDCs are also itching to jump ship. One such MDC, Fantin Lakadong, has already suggested that he is about to do so. Despite there being no ban on defections in the district council, Lyngdoh challenged Lakadong to resign and seek a fresh mandate from the people to prove that he has the full backing of his supporters to quit the Congress.
