Exit rumours "premature", says Mukul; to meet Congress high command on Sunday to resolve internal differences

SHILLONG: 

Congress leader Mukul Sangma on Friday said that speculation of him exiting the party is "premature", and he does not want to be portrayed as a "victim of pessimism".

“You don’t have anybody who is telling a concrete story. You have to wait for a time for it to come from the horse’s mouth. It’s a question of giving weightage to news when it comes from the right source,” he said, speaking about rumours of his joining the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).

He informed that a meeting of the Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) will be held on Saturday to discuss the three upcoming bye-elections to Mawphlang, Mawryngkneng, and Rajabala. And on Sunday, he will go to Delhi to seek the intervention of the Congress high command for resolving issues within the party. “Sunday will be the likely day when I should travel. We will try to resolve it... Resolving issues require a certain amount of patience," he said.

He admitted that there are members within the party who have grievances, while making a note of Lamphrang Blah, a senior member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, who left the Congress for rival National People's Party.

Sangma warned that “these are indications; these are tips of the iceberg. Therefore, we want to resolve them at the appropriate time and well ahead of time of the elections". He further added, “We cannot allow this kind of internal problems in the party and would like to resolve them within the four walls.”

Even though he admitted that differences exist in the party, Mukul, however, was quick to note that the situation is “not as it is in Punjab”, and that the state party there should have taken the Meghalaya approach instead to avoid a crisis.

The veteran leader explicitly denied that he had met Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh on Friday and said that the legislators are being influenced by political parties and the Congress is trying to insulate their own.

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