GUWAHATI
A Minister in the Conrad K. Sangma government has triggered speculations over the MLAs of Trinamool Congress (TMC) merging with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Meghalaya.
Animal Welfare and Veterinary Minister, Alexander Laloo Hek, confirmed his meeting with the TMC’s State unit president, Charles Pyngrope and former Chief Minister Mukul M. Sangma, following reports that the TMC legislators were planning to switch over to change their political fortunes.
The TMC became the principal opposition party in Meghalaya almost overnight in 2021 when 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs crossed over. Confident of ushering in “change”, the party contested 56 seats but managed to win five.
“We had an informal conversation over tea,” Mr. Hek said, admitting that a possible merger of TMC legislators with the BJP was one of the topics discussed.
“We are waiting for a positive reply from them,” he told journalists in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong on April 25.
But Mr. Hek was quick to clarify that he was not negotiating for the BJP and that the meeting was informal in nature.
Mr. Pyngrope and Mr. Mukul Sangma, two of the five MLAs, discounted the possibility of a merger. The three other MLAs have maintained silence on the issue.
Campaigning for the National People’s Party ahead of the February 27 election, Mr. Conrad Sangma had warned the TMC that it was “investing” in Meghalaya in vain as most of its leaders would abandon the party after the election ended.
The TMC is one of six parties contesting the by-election to the Sohiong Assembly constituency in Meghalaya. The election had to be deferred because of the death of H.D.R. Lyngdoh, the United Democratic Party candidate before the February 27 election.
