West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. file | Photo Credit: Debashish Bhaduri
Guwahati
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to sound the election bugle for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Meghalaya on January 18, with three of the party’s 12 MLAs defecting to rival parties in 12 days.
The Election Commission of India is expected to announce the election dates for Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura this week. Each of these three states has a 60-member house.
“Ms. Banerjee, president of the Trinamool Congress, will address a public meeting at Mendipathar in North Garo Hills district.
“This will be her second visit to the state after her two-day stay in (state capital) Shillong in December last year, where she launched WE Card, TMC’s unique financial assistance scheme for women, which till date is over. lakh registrations,” TMC MLA George B. Lyngdoh said.
The TMC is focusing on the Garo Hills region, which has 24 assembly seats. Of the 12 Congress MLAs who will join TMC in November 2021, nine are from this region, including former chief minister Mukul Sangma.
TMC got a jolt when three of its MLAs left the party in the last 30 days. Marathon Sangma and Jimmy D. Sangma – both from Garo Hills – joined the National People’s Party (NPP), while Himalaya M. Shangpliang joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
But the TMC downplayed the defection, pointing to similar reverses for other parties. A party leader, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Switching parties before elections is not a new thing in Meghalaya.”
The NPP, a key ally of the BJP in the coalition government, is TMC’s main rival in Meghalaya. There is no pre-poll alliance between NPP and BJP.