Guwahati: Congress leader and former state minister Dr. Ampareen Lyngdoh has quit the grand old party with the assembly elections in Meghalaya scheduled for early next year. Lyngdoh, along with one more MLA is set to join the ruling National People’s Party (NPP), people familiar with the development said.
“I have tendered my formal resignation from @INCIndia (sic),” the leader wrote on Twitter on Monday morning, along with a copy of the letter, tagging Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The NPP is an ally of the BJP.
In the letter, Dr Lyngdoh pointed out that she has been “a foot soldier of the Congress for most part of my life”. “However, recent developments within the party have led me to believe that it has lost its sense of direction. There has been a pressing need for the party and the leadership to reflect on this. Sincere and honest attempts to lead such self-introspection I believe have failed,” the letter reads.
The Congress has “lost touch with the people of Meghalaya”, her letter further reads, adding, “… and I no longer believe it is the best platform for me to serve them.”
Early in the following year, elections will be held in Meghalaya. Assembly elections are expected to take place in Tripura, another northeastern state, by March. The most recent developments occur one day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the two states sounded the poll siren for the BJP.