SHILLONG, Dec 4: Breaking his silence on the speculation about his re-entry into the Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mukul Sangma on Wednesday said he has no such intention.
He, however, did not rule out the possibility of floating a political party in the near future. He said his fight is with the National People’s Party-led (NPP) ruling dispensation.
Claiming that the Congress in Meghalaya is directionless, he said the NPP and the Congress maintain a close relationship with each other but Congress leaders speak something else in the public domain.
To buttress his claim, he referred to the alliance between the two parties in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council. He said he cannot dilute his attention of building the state.
Asked if state Congress chief Vincent Pala is the main bone of contention, Sangma said it is not about an individual but he is fighting against the ruling dispensation.
“Why should I go to Congress to serve the people? I started my innings as an independent and I did not have a godfather. I have only people who share my ideas and who are there with me to fight,” he said.
Earlier, he had stated that during his tenure as the chief minister, the then state government had set a new benchmark in matters of governance and service to the people.
“Anybody who succeeded and carried forward the responsibility of building the state should have gone beyond that benchmark and if they couldn’t, they should have maintained that benchmark. But the present dispensation has not been able to do that,” Sangma claimed.
Accusing the ruling MDA of breaking the momentum of development and equal opportunities for the people, he said it slowly monopolised all the spaces of livelihood by ensuring that such opportunities are available only for a selected few.
“With impunity, they have oppressed, suppressed and monopolised the opportunities of livelihood,” he alleged.
He said projects were turned into bigger projects so that local entrepreneurs cannot enter that domain and thus, displaced them slowly.
Asked about TMC state president Charles Pyngrope hinting at joining the Congress, Sangma said it is about individuals who do not want to fight and surrender. “I don’t belong to that breed,” he added.
