SHILLONG, Sep 4: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) will cut a sorry figure in the Khasi-Jaintia region in the 2023 Assembly polls, Rajya Sabha member and NPP state president W.R. Kharlukhi said on Sunday.
He predicted two seats at most for the West Bengal-based party out of the 36 seats in the region.
“TMC came to Meghalaya through the backdoor. They are Congress defectors who are yet to be tested in the state’s politics. Let us see if their dreams come true or if it is just wishful thinking,” Kharlukhi said.
“My assessment says the party will get zero to two seats in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills,” he added.
On the other hand, people everywhere are joining the NPP and this indicates how it will fare in the 2023 polls, Kharlukhi said.
He said the NPP expects 15 to 22 seats in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills and between 10 and 15 seats in the Garo Hills. “It is our dream to form the government on our own but an election is an election,” he said.
Kharlukhi played down the perceived growth of the United Democratic Party, one of its allies in the MDA government but shaping up as a major challenger for the NPP in the battle of ballots.
“Is UDP a challenge in the Garo Hills? The party begins and ends in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills and we do not,” he said.
He said the NPP has won eight seats in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills, two more than the UDP got in the last Assembly elections.
“In the Khasi Hills district council election, we got seven seats and they got six. In Jaintia Hills, we won 12 seats and they won 10,” Kharlukhi said, adding it will be the same again next time.
