Shillong, Sept 12: Veteran Congress leader, D.D. Lapang will contest for the last time in the upcoming Assembly election from Nongpoh constituency.
“The forthcoming election will be my last election,” Lapang told reporters here on Tuesday.
Lapang has represented Nongpoh the constituency since the first election in 1972, after Meghalaya was created as a full-fledged state.
Except in the 1993 Assembly election, Lapang had not lost the election from Nongpoh.
Lapang had become the chief minister of Meghalaya for five times and stepped down in 2010, following a demand to change the leadership. After Lapang resigned , Mukul Sangma who was the deputy chief minister then, was elected as the chief minister.
Whether he would again fight for the chief minister’s post if re-elected in 2018, Lapang said, “I have never fought for leadership. The leader is not to be chosen by himself, but by the MLAs or followers. I was the chief minister many times, but I have never struggled anywhere anytime. I am a discipline soldier, and anything directed by the party I am there. Do not create confusion that Lapang now will fight with Mukul Sangma (chief minister). But I have this believe in my life that no one is indispensable including DD Lapang,” he said.
Whether the Modi wave will create an impact in the upcoming election when Prime Minister, Narendra Modi would come and campaign in Meghalaya, Lapang said, “Modi wave will not work here.”
He also said that the Congress has no strong opponents in the upcoming election, adding that his party would come back to power.