Shillong, Nov 25: Senior Congress leader and former Williamnagar legislator Deborah C Marak has raised serious questions on Dr. Mukul Sangma’s statement to blame the party leadership for the current crisis that has led to a split in the Congress in Meghalaya.
Leader of the Opposition Dr. Mukul Sangma, who defected to the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) party of Mamata Bannerjee with 11 other MLAs gave a press conference in Shillong on Thursday effectively blaming the Congress for failing in its leadership role as a credible opposition to take on the BJP and the NPP.
“He (Mukul) has publicly blamed the Congress leadership for the rise of the NPP-BJP combine and its own decline. But, the people of Meghalaya have seen with their own eyes and know very well who was in charge of the Congress party for eight long years. Wasn’t it Mukul Sangma who was chief minister from 2010 to 2017?” demanded to know Deborah Marak.
She accused the former leader of the Congress party of shifting the blame when he was holding the reins of power.
“Why was he not able to win Garo Hills or even Khasi Hills in 2018 elections when the party fought the elections under his leadership? How did the NPP emerge from two seats in 2013 to a record tally of 20 seats by 2018 when Mukul was CM?” questioned Marak.
“He has tried to mislead the people of the state by holding power without responsibility! This is not the character of a true statesman who leads from the front,” she added.
The first woman deputy chief minister in a Congress government over a decade ago, Deborah Marak has remained a formidable force for the party in Garo Hills despite her defeat in the 2018 by-polls, following the killing of NCP candidate Jonathon Sangma at the hands of GNLA outfit that led to a countermanding of the Williamnagar polls.
“Many people have written the obituary of the Congress in Meghalaya and even All India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had announced a ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’ when he rode to power with a huge majority in the general elections of 2014. But the Congress still survived that ordeal. It continues to do so even now,” asserted Marak.
