Denied Cong ticket, Rymbai braces up to take on party, plans ‘exodus’

Chief Minister D D Lapang, who had once brought former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader J D Rymbai into Congress politics, has now become a reason for the latter to quit the party. Denied a party ticket, Rymbai is now bracing up to take on the Congress’s Jirang nominee William Mynsong and ensure the party’s defeat in the Assembly elections in 2008. Rymbai told The Indian Express on Monday that he was going to “work very hard” to retain the Jirang seat for the fifth consecutive time. He has been representing the constituency since 1988. He had fought the last four elections as a Congress candidate but this time he would have to sweat it out as a regional party nominee. Rymbai is planning to quit the Congress and take along as many party workers from Jirang as possible. He said, “I am going to resign along with my supporters from the Congress party.” He, however, refused to reveal how many Congress workers are ready to resign from the party along with him. Rymbai said that he was going to meet members from all the 20 units of the Congress under the Rymbai constituency. He said the whole process would take about a week before he and his supporters put in his papers to the party high command. He would decide on whether to contest the upcoming polls from the United Democratic

Party (UDP) ticket only after having a deliberation with his supporters. Rymbai joined the Congress in 1982 along with D D Lapang. Before

that he was a member of All Party Hills Leaders Conference. It was Lapang who convinced Rymbai to enter politics and contest the 1988 election from Jirang.