Party top brass set to leave for Kolkata
TMC-Congress truck may be possible
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Jan 12: After a hiatus, the jammed wheels of Meghalaya Trinamool Congress (TMC) seem to have finally started spinning.
It looks like Congress and TMC are going to have a truck for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls after all.
After Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Vincent H Pala snubbed TMC refusing to do business with it, things have begun to happen. TMC top guns from the state are heading for Kolkata next week for instructions for the polls.
A crucial meeting is scheduled to take place between the party’s Meghalaya unit and top brass.
The meeting will be attended by top party leaders such as Mukul Sangma, Charles Pyngrope among others, party sources said.
They also said that there is a possibility of fielding Mukul Sangma or his brother Zenith Sangma from Tura Parliamentarian seat, while in Shillong, no intentions have been stated yet.
Earlier, Umroi MLA George B Lyngdoh was the favourite for the seat. However, following his resignation from different positions of the party, this idea seems implausible.
But politics is tricky and anything is possible, sources said.
Earlier, the TMC had seemed directionless. The state TMC leaders had chosen to reserve their comment on the disinclination of Congress to field a consensus candidate for Lok Sabha polls until and unless an official communiqué is received from the party high command regarding the matter.
Common candidate
The Congress on the other hand is discussing the modalities insofar far as fielding a common candidate with the TMC is concerned.
This was revealed by AICC Spokesperson Anuma Acharya on Thursday when asked about her opinion on the Congress and TMC fielding a common candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state under INDIA bloc.
She said that when these discussions are over, it will come to fore.
It may be mentioned that the two parties want to take on the BJP at the national level together.
Earlier, MPCC chief Pala had said that the party should field its candidates from the two Lok Sabha seats in Meghalaya instead of yielding any or both seats to a consensus candidate of the INDIA alliance.
Pala had stated: “We have made our stand with the central leadership. Besides the AITC seems to only have been a party to contest the elections as they have all fallen silent following the election. We are hopeful that the leadership will understand the sentiments of the people.”
Setback
In the midst of a churning, the TMC is also dealing with a setback as four ‘prominent’ leaders from Ri-Bhoi have decided to quit the party on Thursday.
The four leaders are, Gilbert Nongrum, president of TMC Ri-Bhoi district as well as the Umsning Block unit, Livingstone Barim, secretary of Umsning Block, Shadbor Mylliem Umlong, Umsning Block youth wing president, and Bobby Khongsngi, Mahila Umsning Block president.
The four leaders have, however, not cited any reasons for their decision to leave the party.