Cong confident of winning all MDC seats

SHILLONG, OCT 14: Congress claimed that the party will win all the seven vacant MDCs’ seats in the upcoming bye-elections to the two district councils in Khasi and Jaintia Hills region.

“We stand united and we will win all the seven seats,” MPCC chief DD Lapang told reporters after a party meeting on Friday to kick-start the campaign for the bye-polls.

Lapang said the seven candidates were selected in just one sitting which shows the unity of the party unlike other parties adding that other political parties had many contenders and this led to the delay in announcement of their candidates.

Echoing similar views, chief minister Mukul Sangma said the party is gearing up and taking stock of the political situation to acclimatize the party workers and the candidates with issues and initiatives of the government.

Stating that the party manifesto was also discussed during the meeting, Sangma said the election manifesto will be the guiding principle – to look at where we are, how we are trying to fulfill our promises and how the party is responding to various issues and accordingly resolves them.

Asked on the performance of the Congress, he said, “Election is a wonderful opportunity to connect with the people on various important issues.”

“The most important thing is to reach out to the people and connect them with all the necessary information vis-a-vis the initiatives of the government and party, both present and the past, and as to how the INC as a party has done over the decades,” he said.

The chief minister, however, refused to give a direct reply as to whether the bye-election is considered to be a semi-final for the Congress before it goes to the 2018 state polls and only said, “We are politicians we know how to play and how to respond to situation.”

Stating that the Congress have stood firm to protect the interest of microscopic communities including the tribal in NE region, Sangma said, “Every good things that had happen in the NE has complete connection with the Congress. There is no good thing that has happened without the Congress,” adding “These are far sightedness and vision of the leaders of the Congress.”

Sangma added, “That is why today people like us and the party has been instrumental in creating the enabling environment where the tribal of NE have been able to ensure to insulate itself from the pulls and pushes of the whole diverse nation.”

Sangma said states like Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and others are all protected because of the constitutional provision which is an offshoot of the farsightedness and vision of Congress leaders.

He concluded by saying,“This is a gift of the Congress to the people.”-By Our Reporter