Pointing fingers once again at the Congress and what he termed as back stabbers within the party, ex-Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma once again tore into his former party, alleging that people within Congress worked towards ensuring its loss in 2018.
“Experts from across the nation who had analysed data trends asserted to us that Meghalaya would once again go with the Congress but it was the people within the party that were responsible for the loss on 2018,” said Dr Sangma to a gathering of Trinamool Congress (TMC) members at a meeting held at Watregre, West Garo Hills.
This meeting was the fourth such public gathering organized by TMC leaders in Garo Hills to explain to the public why they had left the Congress.
“Our former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, also lost an election even after she was the PM. She did not give up but introspected to find the reason for the loss. Learning from her experience, she once again bounced back as PM of the same Congress Party after rectifying the mistakes,” said Dr Sangma.
“When we tried to do the same thing within the Congress, we were shunted out and those that were responsible for the current state of the Congress were given major responsibilities. What choice did we have other than to look at alternatives?” he asked.
Delving deeper into possible causes of the 2018 defeat, Dr Sangma said that, in at least 13 seats, the erstwhile Congress lost by 400 votes or less. He felt this signified that there were people within that were sabotaging campaigns for their personal ends. There were also instances during the last election when some Congress candidates got only 300 votes or less. This, he said, was something unheard of and showed the unhealthy trend that has continued.
“For the better performance of the party, everyone needs to work together. However, in the Congress, people within the party were working against it. We didn’t need enemies from outside. We already had our own. This was proved through our internal investigation,” he claimed. “We had tried to change the system but the party leaders were not willing to budge. So we were left without a choice.”
On the reason why they chose the TMC and not other regional parties within the state, Dr Sangma said that they were left with no choice as all the other regional parties were busy in working in a government by the BJP and run by its crony the NPP.
“We had to fight the divisive politics of the BJP and go out of our comfort zone. The story of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is similar. She was a part of the Congress in West Bengal and when there too they didn’t want to inculcate change, she formed her own party and has made the Congress a non-entity in her state. She has been fighting the divisive policies of the BJP and we are aligned with her in that fight,” he stated. “Even PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah failed to dent her vote bank and she is still CM of West Bengal.”
The programme saw the presence of most of the formerly Congress GHADC MDCs, with Rangsakona MLA Zenith Sangma, Ampati MLA Miani D Shira and Mendipather MLA Marthon J Sangma also part of the gathering.
Many Congress leaders formally joined the TMC during the meeting.
