Shillong, Sep 2: Leader of the Opposition Dr Mukul Sangma today laid to rest speculation that he and his Trinamool Congress MLAs are trying to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The rumour is not a new one and could well surface again. The TMC has five MLAs in the Meghalaya Assembly and has not managed to make much headway in Meghalaya. Then, after the party lost ground in its West Bengal powerbase, the rumours of Dr Sangma’s possible defection only strengthened.
“In as far as members of the TMC are concerned, I say with conviction that we remain glued to our responsibility as members of the opposition and we will continue to work accordingly,” he said.
When asked if the BJP was trying to poach other parties’ MLAs, he said that every political party will try to expand their reach and see that they can make inroads into areas where they do not have presence. The BJP currently has only two MLAs in Meghalaya.
“Democracy provides that space without having to compromise the core values. But to manipulate the mandate is a dangerous trend,” Dr Sangma added.
The political rumour mill has been in overdrive lately with the suggestion that the bulk of the United Democratic Party’s MLAs could join the BJP. Both the UDP and BJP are members of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
Asked if he sees a threat to the state government if the UDP-BJP merger happens, Dr Sangma said nothing can be ruled out, but as of now there is no such danger to the current MDA government.
“But then I see the present political manoeuvre is seen to be an offshoot in the lack of cohesiveness in the present coalition,” he added.
Dr Sangma also admitted that there was an effort to poach the TMC legislators before but the BJP realised that it would be unsuccessful and dropped the idea.
He added that the political scenario in the country is “abnormally abnormal” since the poaching of elected representatives is happening at the national level involving MPs.
“The end result of such political manoeuvring is definitely unprecedented and is dangerous because it affects the mandate of the nation and has a bearing on the actual mandate of the nation,” he stated.
