Veteran Congress leader Charles Pinegrope said the Congress is still strong, despite not being in power at the Center and in the state, its presence in politics cannot be dismissed. He said that it depends on the mandate of the people and the party will not disappear. The Congress at the Center was displaced in power in 2014 and the NPP-led government assumed power in 2018.He said how can the Congress be weak? Just because it is not in the state or in the country, it means that the Congress party will be eliminated, that is not the case. Pinegrope said that no Congress MLA has expressed any desire to leave the party with his colleagues. Referring to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pinegrope said that the future of the Congress is still bright.
He said that Congress has a strong foundation. When asked about Ampareen Lyngdoh’s move to leave the party, he said that the Congress MLA from Letumkhara has not expressed anything to the party high command. He declined to comment on the case. He said that the party is preparing to contest the Shela by-election.