Abhishek Banerjee Meghalaya

Shillong, June 07: Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee will go to Meghalaya on June 16 with the slogan “Meghalaya is ready for a new era of progress and prosperity.” With this visit, Abhishek is targeting to win the assembly election in the state which is scheduled to be conducted in 2023.

Two weeks back, Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee claimed that his party will win the assembly elections in Meghalaya and Tripura next year and target 10 Lok Sabha seats in Assam in the 2024 election.

Speaking at an event where more than 1,000 political leaders from various parties joined the TMC, Banerjee exuded confidence that the TMC would form the next government in Tripura and Meghalaya. Activist and writer Sikha Sarma and state Congress leader Avijit Mazumdar are among the prominent faces joining the Assam TMC.

The West Bengal-based party has become the main opposition in the Meghalaya assembly after 12 legislators, led by former CM Mukul Sangma, switched sides from the Congress last year. The party has also inducted former Congress MP and president of the Mahila Congress, Sushmita Dev, and has entrusted her with the responsibility of strengthening the party’s base in Tripura. Another Congress leader from Assam, former PCC president Ripun Borah, has been made TMC president in the state.

Banerjee said party chief Mamata Banerjee will visit Assam soon to give a final shape to the Pradesh, district, and block-level committees. “In the next year, elections will be held in Meghalaya and Tripura and we will form governments in both the states. I need assurance from our supporters in Assam that they will fight bravely with full force in the next two years to win 10 seats in Assam in 2024,” he said in his address to party workers.
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He said Assam does not have opposition at present and added that this fact has been rightly affirmed by CM Himanta Biswa Sarma. Taking a swipe at the Congress he said, “We all left Congress and joined the TMC. Mamata didi herself left the Congress and floated the TMC. Why? Because if you have to fight the BJP, you cannot confine the battle to Facebook and Twitter.”

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) stormed into the Northeast political scene in November last year when 12 legislators of the Congress in Meghalaya, led by former chief minister Mukul Sangma, switched sides to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

Overnight, the TMC, which had no footprint in the state, became the principal Opposition in Meghalaya, edging out the Congress from the House.

However, six months later, the initial euphoria around the party in Meghalaya may have worn off. At least four of the 12 MLAs who crossed over are rethinking their decision, concerned about the party’s “organisation and acceptance” at the grassroots.

They are contemplating joining the ruling-National People’s Party (NPP) or its ally, the United Democratic Party (UDP). The BJP is a junior partner in the NPP-led alliance.