1. Meghalaya Congress avoided the TMC alliance over Mukul Sangma’s potential BJP shift post-polls.
2. Sangma’s defection with 11 Congress MLAs bolstered TMC as the state’s principal opposition.
3. Sangma’s allegiance shift raises concerns about TMC’s ties with BJP, alleges Vincent Pala.
Shillong, March 22: Meghalaya Congress president Vincent H Pala asserted that his party refrained from forming an alliance with the TMC in the state due to the likelihood of TMC leader Mukul Sangma joining the BJP post-Lok Sabha polls.
In 2022, eleven Congress MLAs led by Sangma joined the TMC, making it the main opposition party overnight.
However, Pala revealed that efforts were made to persuade Sangma to return to the Congress fold, but Sangma seemed inclined towards persuading Congress workers to join the BJP instead.
Pala alleged that Sangma’s eventual shift to the BJP after the Lok Sabha elections was highly probable, which influenced the Congress’s decision not to ally with the TMC in Meghalaya.
Highlighting the apprehension of TMC leaders joining the BJP after the elections, Pala emphasized that the Congress leadership concurred with his assessment, prompting the party to avoid an alliance with the TMC.
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Pala accused the TMC in Meghalaya of functioning as the “B-team” of the BJP and expressed concerns about the potential consequences if the TMC’s political allegiance shifted to the BJP after the polls.
Acknowledging the differences between the TMC units in West Bengal and Meghalaya, Pala remained optimistic about the Congress’s performance in the Garo Hills region during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
He confidently stated that the Congress would outperform the TMC in the Garo Hills and reiterated his belief in the party’s resurgence in Meghalaya.
Pala, who has been nominated by the Congress from Shillong, voiced his party’s determination to contest the elections vigorously. He predicted a diminished electoral performance for the TMC in Garo Hills, given the influx of TMC members joining the Congress.
Attempts to reach out to Mukul Sangma and other state TMC leaders for comment on Pala’s assertions were unsuccessful.
