Editor,
The general elections to the Lok Sabha are about five months away but the preparations throughout India are in full swing inspite of Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram.
Here in Meghalaya, the last single phase MP elections was held on April 11, 2019. As of now the likely candidate from the Indian National Congress (INC) is Vincent H. Pala since the party is not at all bothered with finding another suitable candidate. Moreover, he is the third term sitting MP, though he has not brought anything worthwhile for Shillong parliamentary constituency or for Meghalaya as a whole.
The most prominent state party, the UDP, will not shy away from putting up its most suitable candidate from many aspirants. Moreover, the NPP, BJP, and VPP are surely setting up candidates but so far they have not officially declared either for Shillong parliamentary constituency or Tura parliamentary constituency. But I forgot, NPP has already got Agatha Sangma as its formidable candidate for Tura parliamentary constituency who is at present the sitting MP of the constituency.
As far as Shillong parliamentary constituency is concerned the more candidates are in the fray the more chances of winning for the sitting MP Vincent Pala, though too many voters are fed up with him for being fruitless in the last 15 years.
Pala is found to be ineffective and incapable in the Lok Sabha, he could not do anything to convince Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to incorporate Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and to help push the Government of India to introduce ILP in Meghalaya despite a resolution to that effect was adopted by Meghalaya Assembly and already submitted to the Government of India.
Moreover, we have not seen him active in the House by raising questions, motions etc. Again we have not seen him raise any question in Lok Sabha as to why the poor are becoming poorer especially some states like Meghalaya have increased in poverty and in fact they have occupied somewhere in the bottom last.
But inspite of all that, the mood of the majority here in the Shillong parliamentary constituency plus the political situations in the country seems to suggest that Pala may still be the lucky one, not the preferred one.
Philip Marweiñ
Shillong-2
