Shillong, Jan 16: Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Ampareen Lyngdoh on Saturday expressed confidence that the party will not draw a blank in Garo Hills region in 2023 Assembly elections.

Addressing media persons after a party meeting, Lyngdoh emphasized the importance of building the party from scratch, especially in Garo Hills region.

“We are very confident that Garo Hills will not come blank for the Congress party (in 2023),” she said.

Stating that the positivity in the streets of Meghalaya is giving so much strength to the Congress, the East Shillong legislator said, “We are going to face the 2023 elections in all confidence.”

Claiming that the party is having lots of new faces across the state, the CLP leader added, “We are looking at candidates who are qualified candidates, candidates who are committed and candidates who also have strong Congress blood running in their system.”

She said that the desertion by partymen whose careers and status were built by the Congress has been a very bitter learning experience for the party.

“(Therefore), we are going to ensure that we will have candidates who are committed to the cause of the Congress party,” she asserted.

The Congress had suffered a big setback following the exit of as many as 12 MLAs in December, last year.  The group led by former chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma quit the Congress and joined the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC).

Their merger was also recently recognized by the Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh.

The CLP leader further claimed that the Congress is getting great support from every nook and corner of the state.

“This is giving us a lot of inspiration. We are very delighted to know that the people missed the Congress. So this is something that we’re going to be working around,” she added.