Shillong: Former Meghalaya Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader, Dr. Mukul Sangma on Monday said that the Congress does not put obstacles for anybody desiring to join the party but expressed reservations about the “kind of perception that is being generated with their joining”.
Sangma’s statement assumes significance ahead of two former Congress leaders Robert Garnett Lyngdoh and Pynshngainlang Syiem all set to return to the folds of the grand old party on Wednesday.
“It is not important who comes in and who goes out that for every political party not only for the Congress, since the party will remain. But for political parties who have their roots already, leaders will come and go,” the Leader of Opposition said.
The veteran Congress legislator said that what is more important is to have ideals and principles along with demonstration of being able to really translate them into action on the ground and have positive impacts on the lives of the people.
Sangma said that the Congress has been able to remind people about the difference of the kind of governance that it gave in the preceding years.
“The difference of governance that you see now, if you say is it comparable? I would say no it is not comparable. Please don’t compare because our focus was different. But the focus of the present government is completely different,” the leader of opposition said.
Pointing out that post 2018, there has been poaching attempts on Congress legislators by the ruling National People’s Party and other political parties, Sangma said, “We have been able to insulate our team effectively from all these poaching exercises and that is probably the toughest job which we have embarked upon and we have successfully taken this responsibility of protecting and insulating our team till now.”
“You have seen how the aggressive poaching culminating in our colleague resigning and joining another political party. This is for everybody to see. After that did they stop? No. Did they continue? Yes,” he said, referring to former Assembly Speaker Martin M Danggo, who gave up his membership of the Assembly and then contested the by-election unsuccessfully.
Sangma, however admitted that the toughest job was to keep the Congress flock together.
