All India Congress Committee (AICC) chairperson Sonia Gandhi has appointed former chief minister of Nagaland and former governor of Goa, Maharashtra Dr. S. C Jamir as the chairman of the special committee to strengthen North East Congress Coordination Committee (NECCC).

A 32 member delegation led by former Meghalaya chief minister DD Lapang met AICC chairperson, Sonia Gandhi at her residence at 10 Janpath in New Delhi.

The delegation also included B Kalita, Union Ministers, P S Ghatowar and Vincent H Pala and the AICC leader, L Faleiro, including many MPs, CLP leaders and PCC Presidents of the North East as well as the office bearers of the NECCC.

The delegation informed Sonia that the NECCC had held a meeting at the premises of Vincent H Pala where it was decided to set up a Special Committee to strengthen the NECCC.

In the meeting, Dr S.C Jamir was selected as the chairman of the Committee and MP and PCC President of Assam, B Kalita as the Co Chairman, while Dr D D Lapang will be the Ex officio member.

The delegation also  congratulated Sonia Gandhi for her wise selection of Pranab Mukherjee as the ‘Presidential candidate’ of the UPA, who with his experience and long innings in public service, has indeed earned the trust and confidence of the nation, as reflected in his margin of victory.

“There are several pending projects in the region which need effective attention of the government so that the good work of the party becomes visible in front of the people,” said Lapang.

According to Lapang, there will be a direct involvement of the AICC in the newly formed committee. The NECCC delegation during its meeting with Sonia Gandhi also raised the issue of underdevelopment and communication bottlenecks of the region. The delegation also apprised Sonia Gandhi that Northeast needed more attention as the region will play a very big role in the security of the country.

“The region is surrounded by important countries, so the bordering areas of the region should have to be developed,” reminded S.C Jamir. He said that the people of the region are tired of the unending talks between the government and the NSCN.

“Apart from a peaceful atmosphere, something concrete has to be done in respect of the government-NSCN talks before the next year’s Assembly elections,” added Jamir.

In their meeting with Sonia, they also discussed on the 2013 assembly elections which will be held in the states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.

They deliberated on the preparedness of the Party and also resolved to get the support of the Party leaders of neighboring states especially the leaders of the AICC, in the campaign ahead.

They also informed that an NECCC conference will be held in Dimapur, Nagaland in September this year and has requested Sonia Gandhi to attend the conference.

It may also be mentioned that the delegation met Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday, to congratulate him for this grand victory.