Opposition politician and former Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma has yet to send any feelers to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) despite consistent rumours swirling around that he will make the jump to the saffron party.
Dr Sangma is currently a member of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party to which he fled after leaving the Congress Party. However, notwithstanding plenty of effort, the TMC failed to make much of an impact at last year’s state elections and returned only five MLAs. Since then, although there have been a few fiery moments, he has largely kept to the sidelines of state politics, fuelling rumours that he will leave the TMC.
Today, the BJP national vice-president, who is also the official in charge of Meghalaya, Chuba Ao, said that Dr Sangma has not sent any feelers towards the BJP, another party that also failed to live up to the hype in the 2023 polls.
Ao said that it is up to the former CM whether he wants to join the BJP or not. “If he likes, he can join… It is up to him, not the BJP.”
Dr Sangma has denied the rumours of his defection on several occasions. News reports have claimed that four of the five TMC legislators are desperate to change their political fortunes by joining the BJP.
One obstacle, though, seems to be Dr Sangma’s archrival Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma of the National People’s Party (NPP). If Dr Sangma does join the BJP, that would make him a member of the governing Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, which the NPP leads.
The CM is said to have lobbied the BJP to reject any move by Dr Sangma to join the saffron party.
