SHILLONG, Nov 28: The 12 Congress MLAs’ controversial decision to join TMC, which evoked an adverse reaction in the social media, is being defended by the involved legislators as a path breaking step aimed essentially to thwart BJP’s sectarian policies. Some of these MLAs told The Shillong Times that TMC’s proven capability of taking on BJP prompted them to switch over to TMC.
While Mukul Sangma and other senior leaders like Charles Pyngrope have explained the reason behind their decision to join TMC calling it as an apt pan-India opposition, there is obscurity about the factors leading to this significant political decision.
One of the TMC MLAs spoke to the this reporter on condition of anonymity revealing the main reasons behind their dramatic decision to quit the Congress was the party’s lack of coordination and the leadership vacuum that was evident after the party’s defeat in the recent by-elections.
“The Congress is in total disarray. We tried our level best as leaders of the grand old party to ensure victory in the by-elections to the three Assembly constituencies,” he said.
Saying that they were appalled by the Congress central leadership’s lack of concern even after the recebt setback in by-elections, he disclosed out that party leaders from the state were invited to Delhi to do a post-mortem of the reasons that led to the Congress’ defeat in the by-elections.
“We reached Delhi expecting to meet the top central leadership of the party and to dwell at length on the way ahead especially with the Assembly elections in the state scheduled in 2023. But to our utter disappointment we got an audience only with the AICC general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya, Manish Chatrath and AICC national general secretary, KC Venugopal who had no clue about the ground situation in Meghalaya,” the former Congress MLA said.
He also pointed out that they had expected AICC interim president, Sonia Gandhi and her deputy, Rahul Gandhi to meet them to discuss how to strengthen the party in the state.
“Most of us felt that we are losing our way as the AICC is not serious about revamping and strengthening the party. We went to Delhi with huge expectations. It turned out to be a routine review meeting and nothing substantial emerged from it,” he said.
The former Congress leader revealed that soon after their return from Delhi, he got a call from strategist and tactician, Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) team.
Admitting that he had earlier rejected their calls hoping for a bright future for the Congress, he said that he decided to meet them in Guwahati.
“Within a few minutes into the conversation, I realised that the man had a vision that was good not only for the state but for the country as a whole,” he said.
He disclosed that Kishor explained to him that the people of India wanted the BJP Government to go since it was trampling on the fundamental rights of every individual and was playing divisive politics based on religion and secularism and the TMC was the only option since the Congress was not a force to reckon with anymore.
“I asked myself whether to remain with the Congress or join the TMC which is ready to take on the BJP with whatever means it had,” he said. The former Congressman also made it clear that regional parties from the state can never be an alternative to the BJP. Even the NPP with its available resources would not be able to take on the BJP. “Therefore, we need a party which has the capability and the willingness, strength and track record to take on the BJP. The AITC has proved that it can take on the BJP’s divisive politics,” he added.
According to him, the desertion of the 12 Congress MLAs will not affect the presence of the party in the state. The Congress boat will not sink as there will be people who will continue to steer the boat but not as successfully as before, he said.
Talking about the I-PAC team, he said that every party has a dedicated team that does the planning and strategy and analytical assessment of the ground reality. “The I-PAC team is everywhere, not only in Meghalaya. They are doing their work in Tripura and Goa. The team moves around but they do not declare themselves. They quietly go to meet people at the grassroots level to get an insight into the ground reality.
The team does its own analysis and assessment without informing anyone,” the former Congress MLA said.
The TMC MLA said that as far as his understanding goes, I-PAC does not interfere into the functioning of the government in power. “The team only advises the government on the things to do for the benefit of the people. The I-PAC team consists of strategists, thinkers and planners who guide and advise the political party with whom they are working,” he said.
Asked if the AITC had assured some major funding to meet their election expenses, the former Congress MLA admitted that it is the policy of every political party across India to provide funding for its candidates. “This is a common practice whether it is the UDP, Congress, BJP or NPP. The individual political parties have their own way to do it on how much and when they provide funding to the candidates. When we were in the Congress, we were given party funds to contest the elections,” he said.
The former Congress MLA said if this is not done how they will submit their election expenditures statement to the Election Commission.
“We have to prove how much we got from the party and it comes in black and white. The funding of the candidate is a normal practice. If the party does not provide funds how will the candidate show it to the Election Commission? How much the party provides is a different issue,” he said.
When asked that the people in the social media have already tagged the AITC as a Bangla party, the former Congress MLA said he would like to know which party is not a non-tribal entity.
“Former Lok Sabha Speaker and one of the tallest leaders of the state, Purno A. Sangma had contested from TMC and won the Tura Lok Sabha seat. Therefore, AITC is not a new entity in the state,” he said.
According to him, if one looks at the Congress party, the majority of the founding members of the grand old party were Bengalis.
“Why such a question was not raised against the Congress. I want to ask who heads the Congress now. Is it a Khasi or a Garo who heads the Congress? The accusation that TMC is a Bangla party does not have any weight,” the former Congress MLA said.
He further observed that even the NPP is trying to spread its wings in various parts of the Northeast and other states in the country. “Now, will the NPP be tagged as a Garo party,” he questioned.
He also wanted to know if leaders from West Bengal will govern the state if the AITC wins the elections here and forms the government in 2023.
“The government will be led by our own people only. It is not right to create such a propaganda which is not valid. If they do not want to vote in favour of the AITC it is a different case altogether but give reasons that are justified,” he added.
The turn of events began with former Congress Legislature Party leader Mukul Sangma meeting Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata on September 21 and culminated with the former and eleven other Congress MLAs joining the Mamata Banerjee-led party on the night of November 24. It was not a surprise since the AICC had gone against the common wish of the State Congress and appointed Vincent H Pala as the Pradesh Congress Committee President leaving Mukul Sangma to find an exit route out of the Congress. While the desertion of the 12 leaders from the Congress was formally announced on November 25, The Shillong Times had reported, as early as September, that such a move was on the cards.
