GUWAHATI: The miseries of the beleaguered Congress in Meghalaya are far from over.
Even as the party was struggling to recover from the defection of 12 MLAs to the Trinamool Congress (TMC), two senior leaders and 600 members of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI), led by its state chief Bansharailang Pyngrope, parted ways.
Pyngrope said the recent political developments, particularly the desertion of 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs, prompted him to take the decision.
"We were left like orphans in view of the latest political developments in the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee," Pyngrope wrote in his resignation letter to NSUI national president Neeraj Kundan.
"The reason for all of us to leave is neither due to the Congress party nor the NSUI or its leadership but simply because of the business-like approach of newly-appointed PCC chief (Vincent H Pala) who does not have any regard for hard work, sincerity and dedication," he further wrote.
The appointment of Pala, who is also the Shillong MP, as the state Congress chief had virtually divided the party into two factions. Former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, the party's sole contender for the CM post, had felt threatened by the appointment and defected to the TMC along with the 11 others.
Pyngrope accused Pala of creating a division in the party and held him responsible for the defection by the MLAs.
The Congress, which has been relegated to a smaller party with just five MLAs after the "political coup", said it would infuse fresh blood to rejuvenate itself ahead of Assembly elections, due in the early part of 2023.
Despite the setback, the party is trying to put up a brave front with party leader Ampareen Lyngdoh asserting that the party was not disheartened but moving forward with a new vigour. Lyngdoh was confident the young guns would help the party regain the lost ground.