RAHUL REPLACES MEGHALAYA CONG CHIEF
NEW DELHI: Alarmed over largescale desertions in the poll-bound northeastern states, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday stepped in to set the party’s affairs in order in Meghalaya and Nagaland where assembly elections are due in February.
Gandhi removed Meghalaya Congress president DD Lapang, a day after five party legislators resigned from the state assembly to contest the upcoming elections as Nda-affiliated National People’s Party (NPP) candidates.
State minister Celestine Lyngdoh replaced Lapang who has been appointed as advisor of the Pradesh Congress Committee in a bid to mollify him.
This is not the first time that the 83-year-old Lapang faced rebellion. In 2010, a majority of party’s legislators revolted against him and forced his ouster as the chief minister. Mukul Sangma replaced him and continues to be at helm.
Gandhi named Lok Sabha member from Shillong Vincent H Pala as the state working president to assist Lyngdoh in running the party affairs.
A 13-member election panel has also been set up to formulate the party strategy for the upcoming polls.
In Nagaland, the party formed state election, campaign and media committees as part of its poll preparations.
After assuming the Congress president’s post on December 16, Gandhi has swiftly moved to address the factionalism in pollbound states.
Earlier this week, Congress general secretaries Ashok Gehlot and Sushil Kumar Shinde were appointed as observers for the legislature party meetings in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh respectively. To select the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leaders, Gehlot will be assisted by former union minister Jitendra Singh in Gujarat and former Maharashtra Minister Bala Saheb Thorat will help Shinde in Himachal Pradesh.
In another decision, Gandhi appointed Maharashtra legislators Yashomati Thakur as coordinator for Meghalaya elections. Anil Thomas, Netta D’souza and Susanto Borgohain were named divisional coordinators.
Gandhi has made it clear that women leaders will be given key responsibilities in the organisation. Addressing Mahila Congress workers in Delhi on December 13, he had pitched for greater participation of women in the party. “We have to work on transforming the Congress, and a fundamental part of it is going to be the role of women in the party at every single level,” he said.
As part of his plan, Congress sources indicated that Lok Sabha MP from Supaul (Bihar) Ranjeet Ranjan could be appointed as the head of the party’s Bihar unit.