SHILLONG, Nov 26: Trinamool Congress (TMC) state leader, Mukul Sangma on Friday set to rest all speculations about his choice of the Mamata Banerjee-led party instead of a regional party or the BJP, saying it was a natural choice for him and 11 other MLAs.
On the doubts of some people that TMC may not be accepted, especially in Khasi and Jaintia Hills, he said, “I will prove them wrong 100%. I have many friends and they are telling me that it was a good move. They are with the team and they will lend their support.”
“We know without an iota of doubt that we can serve the people much better than anybody else. We can ensure that their hopes and aspirations are realised,” Sangma said.
Explaining his choice, he said despite being a tall leader in the Congress earlier, TMC founder and West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee was never provided the space she deserved in the grand old party.
“Instead of TMC, it would have been INC, led by Mamata Banerjee, in West Bengal today. Due to the reasons best known to the Congress, she had to leave the party and build a new one,” Sangma said.
“Today, we talk about the party that was founded by a Congress fighter. For us, it is like meeting the members of the same family and that is why, it became a natural choice for us,” he added.
Stating that the purpose of building the TMC was to serve the people and Mamata is doing it efficiently, Sangma said, “That is how you understand how many leaders with such potential must have left the party because the space, which was meant for them, was not really provided. That’s why, we say let us learn from the past.”
Asserting that the policy decision taken by the government of the day must allow every individual to grow, he said, “We belong to that part of the country where we have seen people becoming victim of the sense of alienation. The state was confronted with the challenge of militancy, resulting in anger towards the government and we had to convince them that their way of thinking was wrong.”
Sangma said if a party aims at becoming vibrant, its state units have to be also strong. He admitted that the TMC Meghalaya unit has an uphill task ahead.
“You have to utilize the time to talk, connect and build a new party. It has its inherent challenge and despite that challenge, we have decided because we mean business,” he said.