Congress' Meghalaya in-charge on defections: 'Personal ambitions trumped party ideology'

Breaking his silence on the defection of 12 Congress MLAs to TMC, AICC Meghalaya in-charge Manish Chatrath claimed that these leaders had valued personal ambition over party ideology. Speaking to the media on Thursday, the Congress leader revealed that he had rushed to Shillong after being apprised of this development. Stressing the need to strengthen the party in the constituencies of the aforesaid legislators, he exuded confidence in the party's preparations for the next Assembly election in 2023. 

Congress' Meghalaya in-charge Manish Chatrath remarked, "Our views are very clear. Last night, I came to know about this development through our PCC and I rushed to Shillong today. I have been briefed by the president and other colleagues in the party. What has to happen has happened already. It is a case of personal ambitions over party ideology I feel."

"We have to definitely strengthen ourselves especially in those seats where these 12 MLAs have won. And we will ensure that we strengthen ourselves over there. We will prepare ourselves well now for the election in 2023," he added. 

TMC gets a foothold in Meghalaya

The rift in Congress came to the fore after Vincent Pala's appointment as the president of the party's state unit. Expressing unhappiness, former CM and Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma claimed that he was not consulted by the Congress high command regarding this appointment. While speculation was rife that he would join TMC along with his supporters in October itself, the Sonia Gandhi-led party managed to salvage the situation after Rahul Gandhi held a discussion with Sangma and Pala in the national capital.

Though they agreed to work together for the subsequent by-elections, Congress suffered a drubbing as the ruling coalition won the Rajabala, Mawryngkneng and Mawphlang seats. On Wednesday, 12 Congress MLAs including Sangma informed Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh about their decision to support TMC. A day earlier, they formally joined TMC as a result of which the Mamata Banerjee-led party had become the principal opposition party with 12 seats. 

Explaining the decision to quit the grand old party, Mukul Sangma revealed, “A complete sense of commitment towards serving the people has brought us to take this decision. In the 2018 Assembly elections, we were confident of forming a government but we could not". In a big indictment of Congress, he alleged that the party had failed to effectively play the role of the main opposition party in the country.