Shillong, Oct. 17: The Congress now has Lok Sabha MP from Shillong, Vincent H. Pala, under the scanner, after suspending Congress MLA and MDC P.N. Syiem for three years.

According to Meghalaya PCC president D.D. Lapang, the party will report to the AICC the statements made by Pala in the media regarding Syiem's suspension for three years.

Lapang said the Shillong MP would be also called for an explanation and would have to report to the party high command.

The PCC president said in the past, whenever there was a crisis in the party, its MPs would behave responsibly as "big brothers" and did not interfere too much at the lower level. "But the situation today seems to be questionable," Lapang said.

Pala had reportedly said he was unhappy with the timing of suspending Syiem from the party, and ample time should have been given to the Congress MLA and MDC before suspending him.

The Shillong MP also alleged that Lapang had not informed him about the development.

Lapang claimed that Syiem had been given a long rope by the party to repair his relationship with Congress leaders in the state and the AICC had also left no stone unturned to solve the problem with Syiem.

"He (Syiem) has decided the best for himself," the PCC chief said.

Lapang said that the resignation letters of three Congress MDCs, kept in abeyance, have been accepted today. After Syiem was suspended on October 14, five Congress MDCs in KHADC resigned from the party, but the resignation letters of only two of them had been accepted.

Blow to Cong: In an embarrassment to the Meghalaya PCC, five Congress members decided to support P.N. Syiem, the suspended Congress MLA and chief executive member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC).

On October 14, Syiem was suspended for three years for alleged anti-party activities. Hours after Syiem's suspension, five Congress Khasi council members resigned from the party, while five others remained with the Congress.

Syiem is leading an executive committee in the KHADC with the support of members from different parties who came together under the coalition of People's Democratic Forum (PDF).

Interestingly, in a meeting of the PDF here today chaired by Syiem, the remaining five Congress members decided to support Syiem and they would remain with the PDF.

"Out of 23 members in the council, the PDF has the support of 21 members, including five from the Congress, and members from other parties and Independents," Syiem told reporters.

Only two members of the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) sit in the Opposition.

According to Syiem, as the session of the council begins from tomorrow, he convened a meeting of the PDF members.

"Since I am no longer the parliamentary leader of the Congress after I was suspended, I wanted to understand the mind of my colleagues who are part of the PDF. All members expressed their confidence in me, and out of 23, our strength is 21," Syiem said.

Interestingly, KHADC chairman Manstudy Nongrem, who has been elected as the new leader of the Congress parliamentary party in the council, also attended the meeting.

On alleged misappropriation of taxation funds in the council, executive member in-charge (taxation), Donkupar Sumer, said the taxation department has sought details, including bank accounts and statements, on this issue.

On alleged misappropriation of funds for holding the Monolith Festival amounting to Rs 5 crore, Syiem said the amount was not for the festival alone, but for various constructions undertaken at the Khasi heritage village at Mawphlang, where the festival was held.

#The state BJP sympathised with suspended Congress MLA P.N. Syiem.

However, it said the situation in the KHADC was an internal problem of the Congress.

SC/ST plea

A parliamentary committee on welfare of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe today asked banks and other institutions to ensure constitutional rights for the people in the Northeast and implement reservation policy in toto.

A delegation of the committee, led by its chairperson Kirit P. Solanki, arrived here today to see how SC/ST welfare was being implemented in the region, which has a predominantly ST population.

"The region has a majority of ST population and their interest should be ensured. The committee has discussed all these issues," he told reporters.

Separate meetings were held with officials of the North Eastern Council (NEC), the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI) and the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd (Neepco) here.

While several points related to the welfare of SC/ST were discussed with Neepco, the committee gave suggestions to the NEC for development of SC/ST as a whole, including infrastructure development. On discussions with IDBI, Solanki said employees belonging to SC/ST should get justice because it is their constitutional right. They should not be discriminated against and their reservation policy should be implemented in toto, he added.

Solanki declined from giving details, saying that the parliamentary committee, which is a "mini Parliament" having members from both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, is required to keep discussions confidential till it places its report in both the Houses of Parliament.