Mukul, Charles meet Hek over joining BJP

SHILLONG, April 25: Cabinet Minister AL Hek on Tuesday disclosed that he has had a preliminary discussion with TMC big guns on their proposed merger with the saffron party.
He said there was an “informal conversation over tea”.
Hek said he had spoken to TMC state chief, Charles Pyngrope and parliamentary party leader Mukul Sangma about the merger.
“We are waiting for a positive reply from them and the next step will follow accordingly,” he added.
Hek admitted that the TMC leaders cannot take any decision on their own because of the Anti-Defection Law which stipulates that all five TMC legislators have to take a collective decision in this regard and then approach the saffron party.
Hek clarified that he is not negotiating on behalf of his party and that he had just met them informally to ascertain their minds.
According to published reports in media, following a disappointing outing at the hustings, the TMC legislators are now seeking to change their political fortune by joining the BJP bandwagon.
Mukul Sangma is said to have initiated the merger move with the BJP. Sources said that his bête noire, Conrad Sangma may have put his foot down and ensured that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma eventually short-circuited the move.
Earlier, Pyngrope and Mukul Sangma had discounted such a possibility while the three other MLAs are maintaining a stony silence on the merger issue.