12 Of 17 Congress MLAs Join Trinamool In Meghalaya In Late-Night Coup
Former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma,along with 11 of the 17 Congress MLAs in the state,
joined the Trinamool Congress in a huge coup for West Bengal’s ruling party in the northeast. The Meghalaya MLAs submitted a letter to assembly Speaker Metbah around 10 pm on Wednesday, informing him of theirchange of status, sources said.The development, which makes the Trinamool
Congress the principal opposition party in the state,
came a day after Congress
leaders Kirti Azad and
Ashok Tanwar as well as
Pawan Varma, formerly of
Janata Dal (United), joined
the Trinamool Congress in
Delhi in the presence ofparty chief Mamata
Banerjee currently visiting
the national capital.Hours
earlier, Ms Banerjee said
her party would welcome
political leaders from other
parties who wished to join
the Trinamool Congress’s
battle against the
BJP.Meghalaya is the latest state where the
Trinamool Congress, in expansion mode over the last
couple of months, has
made an inroad. In Assam,
Goa, Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar
and Haryana, its inroad
has been at the cost of the
Congress.Ms Banerjee,
known to share a cordial
relationship with Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi, has not
met her this time, although
there was a buzz about a
meeting.Asked about the
matter, the Trinamool Congress chief flared up. had sought no appointment with Sonia Gandhi, as
“they are busy with Punjab
polls”, Ms Banerjee
said.Then she pointedly
added, “Why should we
meet Sonia every time? It
is not constitutionally
mandated.”The dozen
Congress MLAs who have
jumped ship will address a
press meet in Meghalaya’s
capital Shillong this
afternoon.The Trinamool
Congress has been trying
to expand its footprint in
Tripura and Goa with an
eye to the next round of
assembly elections in these
states. In Tripura, the party
has been at loggerheads
with the state’s ruling BJP
ahead of civic elections. In
Goa, it is banking on
Luizinho Faleiro, the state’s 12 Congress MLAs Join Trinamool
former Chief Minister.On Tuesday,
Ms Banerjee’s party made three key acquisitions that gave her a toehold in at least two more states – Haryana and
Bihar.Besides Team India batsman Kirti Azad, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s
aide Ashok Tanwar, and Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Verma of the Janata Dal
(United),
who fell out with his boss Nitish Kumar, also joined Ms Banerjee’s
party.The earlier Congress entrants in the party included late President Pranab
Mukherjee’s son Abhijit Mukherjee; Sushmita Dev,
the former Congress
MP from Silchar and daughter of late Congress stalwart Santosh Mohan
Dev.In Delhi today, Ms Banerjee, whose massive victory in the April-May
assembly elections in West Bengal had set off a buzz about her spearheading the opposition challenge to the BJP in the 2024 general elections,
said she was willing to help oust the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.She said she would
visit Varanasi – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency –
and the big opposition hub of Mumbai to meet Nationalist Congress Party
chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on
December 1.The Meghalaya Trinamool Congress was formally launched in
2012 with an intention to contest from 35 of the state’s 60 seats. Team members of election strategist Prashant Kishor are in Shillong to weigh in on the
Trinamool Congress’s options in the state for the 2023 assembly election.
