SHILLONG, MAY 15: Congress state president and former Shillong MP Vincent H. Pala on Thursday said the party has finalized his candidature for the upcoming Shillong Lok Sabha by-election, adding that only a formal announcement from Delhi is awaited.
Pala, a three-time MP who was defeated by VPP’s late Dr. Ricky AJ Syngkon by 3.7 lakh votes in 2024, urged voters of the Khasi-Jaintia region to back him again, citing his 15-year performance in Parliament and development work.
“It is final. There is no question of it being more or less final. Only the formal announcement from Delhi is awaited. If they are happy with me, they will make it official. If not, they will ask for other names. But more or less, it is final, and I request the people to support me as always,” Pala told reporters.
He said the Congress had decided against fielding imported candidates this time. “For two and a half years I was out of power, and I was able to focus on my personal work. This time, the party has decided we should not bring in people to contest elections. Unlike other parties that lack candidates from within and call in people from elsewhere just to fight elections, we will not do that,” he said.
Pala added that the party would soon place his record in the public domain to counter criticism.
“The Congress has decided that we should not back down. We should face the public and tell them what is right and what is wrong. Many people often ask what Pala has done in the last 15 years. I will share that with you. We may work it out today or tomorrow and circulate it through social media. If required, I will also hold a proper press conference on what we have achieved.”
Highlighting his work in Parliament, he said, “If you look at my performance in Parliament, I have never spoken much about myself, but I think the time has come to tell the public. It is in the public domain. My attendance record shows I have been very sincere — 92%, compared to 60-67% for others.”
He added, “In terms of participation in the House, I raised more than 260 questions, compared to only 18 or 19 by others. I never publicized this on social media. In terms of legislation, I introduced a Bill for the protection and preservation of the Sixth Schedule. I also introduced a Bill on coal mining, a Bill for the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule, and a Bill to protect domestic workers. I introduced so many Bills. No one else has done that. Yet people say Pala has not done anything.”
Listing infrastructure and institutional gains during his tenure, Pala said, “When I became a Member of Parliament, we did not have an airport. Today, we have a beautiful airport. Imagine, if I had not been there, to travel from here to Garo Hills we would still have to go through Assam. But today there is a road from Shillong to Tura via Nongstoin. Nongstoin is now connected to Rambrai, Wahkaji, and even Wahblei. West Khasi Hills is far better connected than before.”
He further said, “We also have our own passport office here now. NEIGRIHMS has been upgraded. In NEHU, there were very few departments earlier, but after I became MP, we increased the number of departments. Alongside that, I was also focused on employment.”
On measures for the safety of people from the North East, he said, “I can say with confidence that when I became an MP, I saw that most of our people from the North East were not safe in Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai. We raised the issue, and it was drafted by me and my team that there should be a Bezbaruah Committee. The Bezbaruah Committee recommended several safety measures, and these are now being implemented for the protection of people from the North East because of our efforts.”
He added, “Even in JNU, due to my initiative, we now have a hostel for North East students. We also have hostels for NE students in Delhi University and hostels for the working class in Delhi.”On rail and road projects, Pala said, “When I first came in, the railway line that was meant for Shillong was taken to Garo Hills. PA Sangma told me that the people of Shillong had rejected it. So I secured another sanction, because my job is to get sanctions. If people do not want it, so be it, but we must do our job. We got the line extended up to Jaintia Hills, but the state government did not provide land. That is a separate issue. My job was to get those sanctions.”
He said, “So many roads, including all the national highways, were our initiatives. Delays in projects like the Shillong Western Bypass, Shillong-Dawki Road, and Jowai Western Bypass were due to land acquisition. Otherwise, they were all sanctioned during my tenure. Even the Green Corridor — I have the papers. Toward the end, along with a few of my MP colleagues from the BJP, we met the minister who promised that the road from Shillong to Silchar would be widened. That is why the Green Corridor came up.”
Pala concluded, “I hope that the people will come back to the Congress and we can continue doing the work which we had done before.”
