By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 17: The Congress is poised to receive yet another major boost in Garo Hills, with former Salmanpara MLA Winnerson D Sangma who had contested the 2023 Assembly elections on a ticket of the Trinamool Congress, preparing to rejoin the grand old party.
The Congress, working hard to regain the lost ground in Meghalaya, had received a shot in the arm last month when former Rangsakona MLA Zenith M Sangma returned to its fold. His “homecoming” is being seen as a major gain for the Congress, given his strong grassroots support base in the region.
Zenith’s wife and former GHADC MDC, Sadhiarani Sangma is also set to rejoin the Congress, sources told The Shillong Times on Monday. According to the sources, Winnerson and Sadhiarani are likely to be formally inducted into the party at a programme scheduled at Rangsakona on November 26.
While Winnerson has reportedly sought a Congress ticket to contest the upcoming Garo Hills Autonomous District Council elections, Sadhiarani had contested the Gambegre bye-election in November last year on a TMC ticket.
Meanwhile, the Congress’s state leadership is said to be in active talks with former South Tura MLA John Leslee K. Sangma to bring him back to the party.
According to Congress sources, Sangma is likely to meet party’s state president Vincent H. Pala in the coming days.
It may be recalled that Winnerson, known to be trusted lieutenant and the right hand man of the former chief minister Mukul M. Sangma, had joined the BJP in March last year giving rise to speculation that his mentor (Mukul) may soon join the saffron ranks.
Zenith’s return to the Congress has already put the TMC on the backfoot and with more defections liekly in the coming days, the Mamata Banerjee-led party’s future in Meghalaya seems to be all but over.
Soon after joining the Congress, which he described as “homecoming”, Zenith had remarked that the TMC’s leadership had failed to connect with the grassroots.
“The TMC has not been able to stay in public memory. It may continue to exist in a few pockets but not across the state,” he said, adding that the Congress remains the only “pan-Meghalaya and pan-India party.”
Dispelling suggestions of family-based politics, Zenith said, “In politics, when it comes to serving the people, there is no family. I represent thousands of people in my constituency, not a family name. That mindset must change.”
