Congress leader and leader of opposition in the State Assembly Ronnie V. Lyngdoh today tried to downplay the Congress defeat in the Lok Sabha election from Shillong parliamentary seat.
“When taken into account, it was not only the Congress that suffered an electoral setback but various political parties also suffered a setback,” Lyngdoh told media persons.
According to him, the poll results showed that people wanted to give VPP a chance.
“It might be that people want to try out this new party hence they gave them a chance,” Lyngdoh said.
Asked if the MLAs and leaders of Trinamool Congress who left the Congress will be welcomed if they wished to come back, Lyngdoh said that the Congress party is open to everyone.
“Let us not go into any specific individual. The Congress party is open to everyone. It’s not a question of one person, two persons or three persons. The party has opened the doors to everyone if you’re willing to work for the interests of the party within the party’s ideology,” he said.
On the recent statement by State Congress president Vincent Pala that the former Congress MLAs and leaders who have left the party would no longer be entertained, Lyngdoh said that the party is yet to take a decision on this.
“There is this strength that people still have that trust in the party, the confidence in the party. So I think because of various reasons people left. But I think after the good results by the party all over India, people now have turned back to the Congress though formally they have not contacted us. But then by and large, even the people now would like to see the Congress back in power because of its performance and its inclusivity,” he added.