SHILLONG: Senior Congress leader and MP from Shillong, Vincent Pala has brushed aside the claims that 13 Congress MLAs are looking to desert the party and join either NPP or the BJP in the state.
Pala said that those were mere rumours which have been on circulation since 3-4 months but no such thing has happened.
“In reality I have spoken to many of my friends and they say that there is no truth in it,” Pala said
Making it clear that he is not underestimating other political parties who may poach on Congress leaders, he, however, added that it would not be easy for 13 MLAs to suddenly leave Congress and join other parties.
It may be mentioned that many of the leaders in the party were furious with the party’s debacle in the recently concluded Shella By-poll and many are not happy with the choice of the candidate by the party
“When I talk to them, they tell me that they meet Ministers for constituency related and works and just because they meet the Ministers, it does not mean that they are leaving Congress,” Pala said
However, sources from the Congress earlier maintained that the ‘rebels’ have already got the support of around 10 out of 19 MLAs of the party and they are only waiting for three more so that they can reach the figure of 13 MLAs to avoid anti defection law.
Sources, however, also admitted that for the past 3-4 months, the number of MLAs planning to leave Congress has remained static at 10 and there is no addition to the list.
Apart from Pala, the other top leaders of the party including CLP leader, Mukul Sangma as well on several occasions have denied the reports about MLAs leaving the Congress party.
In the 60-member Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) stands firm with a total strength of 41 legislators while the opposition Congress has 19 MLAs.