Picture : Twitter/ ANI
In a big setback for the Congress in Meghalaya, 12 of its 17 MLAs led by former chief minister Mukul Sangma joined Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress, said one of the defecting lawmakers H M Shangpliang.
With this, despite not winning a single seat in the 2018 state elections, the TMC became the principal opposition party in the assembly. The Congress, which so far had 17 MLAs, is now reduced to only five.
The breakaway group has submitted a list of MLAs crossing over to the TMC to state Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh and informed him about their decision, an official said in Shillong.
The development is a major boost for West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has been trying to expand her party’s footprint beyond her native state.
The move came a day after three-term Congress MP from Bihar Kirti Azad, former Janata Dal-United general secretary Pawan Varma and Haryana politician Ashok Tanwar joined her party.
The TMC is trying to enter Tripura’s political arena in a big way by contesting a bitterly fought municipal election in the neighbouring state.
It will also contest the assembly elections in Goa with the intention of pitching Banerjee firmly as the foremost anti-Bharatiya Janata Party opposition voice.
A Trinamool Congress leader said in New Delhi on Wednesday night that 12 of the 18 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya, including Sangma, have joined the party.
Sangma, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, was reportedly unhappy with the Congress’s top leadership. Sources also said Sangma was peeved at the the appointment of Vincent H Pala without consulting him and the two did not get along well.
