TURA, Dec 9: For the first time in the history of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), the oldest political party — Indian National Congress — has ceased to have any representative in the House after the entire flock of eleven MDCs elected on the party ticket left to join the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) at a special rally organised at Dekachang field of Resubelpara in North Garo Hills on Thursday.
The Congress had won 12 seats in this year’s GHADC polls, the highest after the ruling NPP came second with 11 seats. However, the party lost Batabari MDC Ashahel D Shira to the UDP in October after he defected on being denied a party ticket to contest the Rajabala assembly seat bypoll which he lost to NPP’s Abdus Saleh.
Former chief minister and new Trinamool legislative party leader, Mukul Sangma, along with Mawsynram legislator HM Shangpliang, Mendipather MLA Marthon Sangma, legislators Lazarus Sangma, Winnerson Sangma, Jimmy Sangma and Zenith Sangma were at Resubelpara to welcome the Congress MDCs to the Trinamool.
Out of the eleven MDCs, 10 joined the party today while the last remaining member, Shyamnagar MDC, Habibuz Zaman, could not make it as he was away from the state for medical treatment of his daughter.
He has also reportedly given his commitment to joining the Trinamool.
The former congress leader, Mukul Sangma, who is now the Trinamool legislative party leader in the assembly targeted his former party and its leaders terming them as the mughal character ‘Mir Jafar’ for betraying its own members during recent elections that amounted to defeat.
“In the run-up to the 2018 assembly elections when Congress was running the state, there had been a projection that we would return to power. But this did not happen because Congress leaders and members betrayed one another for their own selfish gains. They put up candidates who were not even assured of victory,” alleged Mukul Sangma while addressing Trinamool supporters in the local dialect.
He told the crowds that the decision to join the AITC was because other regional parties were working in tandem with the BJP instead of opposing.
“Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool are the only ones standing up to the BJP and even able to defeat it as was witnessed in the recent West Bengal elections. Though a lot of ground work will be needed for the coming elections in Meghalaya, we are confident of coming on top.
The Congress is fighting only on social media while the real battle is on the ground,” lashed out Mukul Sangma.
It may be mentioned that The Shillong Times had last week reported about the possible washout of the Congress from the GHADC with all its members defecting to Trinamool.
New Congress working president, Deborah C Marak, had ruled out the defection of her party MDCs en masse and claimed only a few disgruntled members would be doing so. She had said that Boldamgre MDC Stevie Marak had rejected the Trinamool offer and was very much part of the Congress fold. That statement appears to have returned to haunt her as Stevie Marak is one of the MDCs to join the AITC.
“There is no question of anyone staying back or being left behind. We have all along been united in our decision to join the Trinamool Congress because we realised the Congress is no longer a powerful opposition that can take on the BJP and the NPP,” said Alphonsus R Marak, the Congress MDC from Williamnagar.
The Congress MDCs who joined the Trinamool at the Resubelpara rally include Alphonsus Marak of Williamnagar, Stevie Marak of Boldamgre, Agassi Marak of Balachanda, former congress leader Zenith M Sangma’s wife Sadhiarani M Sangma of Dengnakpara, Cherak W Momin of Kharkutta, Perdinand D Shira of Damas, Sonjoy Koch of Betasing, Lahitson M Sangma of Samandagre, Nehru D Sangma of Amongpara and Rinaldo K Sangma of Rongrong MDC constituency which is part of Resubelpara constituency.
