Ahead of the upcoming Meghalaya elections, Lok Sabha MP Vincent Pala is the only legislator, who is left in the party, and has the weight of the grand-old party on his shoulders.
The Opposition Congress lost the status of being the single largest party in 2018 after 21 MLAs, including former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition Mukul Sangma, left the party to join the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Pala, Congress Meghalaya unit chief, is a coal baron and is one of the state’s wealthiest politicians, who has held the Shillong Lok Sabha seat since 2009. He will be contesting the 2023 Meghalaya elections from the Sutnga-Saipung constituency in the state’s West Jaintia Hills district.
The 55-year-old leader, in his very first term, was the first parliamentarian from Meghalaya to become a Union minister of state, and held the portfolio of Water Resources Ministry, and later Minority Affairs.
Last month, while declaring the list of candidates for the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly, Pala had said in a tweet, “Though we had a series of challenges politically, our workers never stopped working at the grassroots. That’s why we could declare 60/60 candidates. Thanks to all the supporters.”
Earlier, speaking to The Indian Express, Pala had said that the Congress had faced “setbacks”, however, it was an “opportunity to start afresh”.
Elections to the 60-member Meghalaya assembly will be held on February 27, and the results will be declared on March 2.