Ex-CM Mukul Sangma among 12 of 17 Cong MLAs set to join TMC in Meghalaya
Ex-CM Mukul Sangma among 12 of 17 Cong MLAs set to join TMC in Meghalaya
The Congress is headed for a major setback in Meghalaya with the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday claiming that 12 of the 17 MLAs of the principal Opposition party are set to join its camp.
This comes less than a week after former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma met the AICC leadership in Delhi.The development will come as a boost for the TMC in the Northeast. When contacted, Sangma told The Indian Express that he will share some “happy developments and news” on Thursday.In the 2018 polls, Congress had emerged as the single
largest party with 21 seats in the 60-member state Assembly. The National
People’s Party (NPP), led by Conrad Sangma, had bagged 19 seats and the BJP won
two. But the NPP managed to cobble together a ruling alliance as part of the
BJP-backed North East Democratic Alliance
The Congress’s Meghalaya unit has been in turmoil since Vincent H Pala was appointed state unit president in August, with Sangma claiming that the appointment was carried out without his consent. In September, Sangma had stayed away from a function to felicitate Pala.
In October, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Rahul Gandhi met Sangma in Delhi in a bid to placate him, following which he claimed that “efforts are on to iron out the differences”.
Subsequently, in the October 30 bypolls, Sangma campaigned for a Congress candidate in one of the three constituencies where elections were held. As recently as November 18, Sangma and Pala attended a meeting with Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and AICC Meghalaya in-charge Manish Chatrath.
When contacted, Chatrath expressed surprise at the development. “K C Venugopal and I had a cordial meeting with Sangma, PCC president Vincent Pala, the three working presidents and some other senior leaders of the party from the state just five days ago, on November 18. Sangma also issued a statement after that meeting vowing to strengthen the party,” he said.
The Congress is headed for a major setback in Meghalaya with the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday claiming that 12 of the 17 MLAs of the principal Opposition party are set to join its camp.
This comes less than a week after former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma met the AICC leadership in Delhi.The development will come as a boost for the TMC in the Northeast. When contacted, Sangma told The Indian Express that he will share some “happy developments and news” on Thursday.In the 2018 polls, Congress had emerged as the single largest party with 21 seats in the 60-member state Assembly. The National People’s Party (NPP), led by Conrad Sangma, had bagged 19 seats and the BJP won two. But the NPP managed to cobble together a ruling alliance as part of the BJP-backed North East Democratic Alliance
The Congress’s Meghalaya unit has been in turmoil since Vincent H Pala was appointed state unit president in August, with Sangma claiming that the appointment was carried out without his consent. In September, Sangma had stayed away from a function to felicitate Pala.
In October, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior leader Rahul Gandhi met Sangma in Delhi in a bid to placate him, following which he claimed that “efforts are on to iron out the differences”.
Subsequently, in the October 30 bypolls, Sangma campaigned for a Congress candidate in one of the three constituencies where elections were held. As recently as November 18, Sangma and Pala attended a meeting with Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and AICC Meghalaya in-charge Manish Chatrath.
When contacted, Chatrath expressed surprise at the development. “K C Venugopal and I had a cordial meeting with Sangma, PCC president Vincent Pala, the three working presidents and some other senior leaders of the party from the state just five days ago, on November 18. Sangma also issued a statement after that meeting vowing to strengthen the party,” he said.
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