From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI, May 22: In what may be termed as a new and interesting political development in Meghalaya, some legislators, including those of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), may join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) before the Assembly polls due in less than a year.
Some of the 12 MLAs who defected from Congress to the AITC in November 2021 are reportedly not too keen on contesting the election on the West Bengal-centric party that does not have a base in the tribal state.
Sources said these and five suspended Congress MLAs had tried in vain to join the ruling National People’s Party or the regional entities such as the United Democratic Party.
The five suspended Congress MLAs and 23 others had recently met over four days in AAP-ruled Punjab, triggering speculations of a possible switchover. Some of the MLAs exchanged views with their AAP counterparts, who encouraged them to help the Arvind Kejriwal-led party to strike roots in Meghalaya.
A few of these MLAs stayed back in Punjab and met national-level leaders of the AAP. The party confirmed this but declined to share details.
The AAP has been trying to expand its base after the Punjab win in order to get the status of a national party. Its leaders feel Meghalaya with a more literate voter base offers a good ground for the party to flourish.
The NPP and its regional allies are said to have a problem of plenty – they may find it tough to give tickets to leaders who defected from other parties and are unlikely to sacrifice any sitting MLA.
Former chief minister Mukul M Sangma and 11 others had joined the AITC after MP Vincent H Pala was made the state Congress chief.
Pala had roped in some former Congress leaders who had been lying low after Sangma emerged as the strongman from the Garo Hills region.
But the chances of most MLAs returning to Congress are almost nil as the party has taken a beating over the past few months.
And with NPP not being an option, particularly in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the APP has emerged as an option, sources said.
Congress, however, has not lost hope. It is upbeat about staging a “comeback” with “fresh faces”.