Shillong, May 14: The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee, in a meeting today, resolved to field Vincent H Pala as the party candidate for the upcoming Shillong Lok Sabha by-election.
“We’ll send a proposal to Delhi (to the All India Congress Committee) and it is up to Delhi to announce first. But from here, we had unanimously decided that I should be contesting for the election,” Pala told reporters after the meeting.
He said instructions have been given at the district and block levels to form committees within this month before campaigning begins. “Those districts and blocks who have completed their committees have already started organising meetings. Looking at the new energy of the district and block presidents, I think the Congress will do well this time,” he said.
After three successive terms, Pala’s share of the vote crashed from 53.52 percent in 2019 to under 20 percent in 2024, with a reduction of more than 2 lakh votes as he lost to the Voice of the People Party (VPP) candidate Ricky AJ Syngkon. The latter’s death in February has necessitated the by-election, which must be held within six months of the vacancy coming about.
Speaking on the by-election, Pala said, “I think we should do well. When you talk of Delhi, it is only Congress that normally protects the minorities.”
He strongly criticised the central government, which is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act and anti-conversion laws. “The new bill, which the BJP has introduced for FCRA, is 100 percent to grab properties like the schools and churches of Christians. That is the main purpose of the FCRA amendment,” Pala alleged. “The way the bill has been framed, whatever you do, they will grab the property, right from schools.”
He also stoked fears of anti-conversion laws spreading to Meghalaya.
“Another very dangerous thing is that 12 states in India have amended anti-conversion laws, due to which many pastors and priests have landed in jail. In those states you cannot even organise a [Christian] prayer meeting,” Pala said. “One day, that same anti-conversion law will also cover Meghalaya. Then people will realise that voting for BJP is suicide.”
Elections are won by the BJP because it plays communal politics, he added. “They play Hindu versus Muslim. Where there are no Muslims, they will say Garo versus Muslim. Where there are no Garos, they say Khasi versus Jaintia. They play one religion against another.”
The former MP did not forget the National People’s Party (NPP), which runs the state government and which is an ally of the BJP.
“We have experienced how the NPP has ruled. We have coal, but the coal doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to a section of people,” Pala, whose family made much of its wealth through coal, said.
Whoever wins the by-election will hold the seat for a maximum of two years, that is until the next general election is held.
“When the Congress was in power, we respected every citizen. We gave equal opportunity to every citizen. This by-election is very important. It reflects the coming elections. If we vote for a party which thinks only for themselves, then we will have nowhere to go. We will only blame ourselves,” Pala concluded.
