Already battered by repeated desertions, the Congress was dealt another blow when the 12 of the 18 party MLAs in Meghalaya jumped the ship and joined the TMC. Later, a political row erupted when TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee questioned the existence of UPA. A report by Amit Agnihotri
The Congress losing leaders to other parties over the past years has thrown up a question if such movements could be dubbed as desertions or riddance?
While the rivals allege that the Congress has been losing leaders as it can no longer provide them growth opportunities, the grand old party believes such persons left for good.
In politics, it is natural that a party will play down its leaders joining other parties to cover up internal problems while the rivals will highlight the development to score a point.
The Congress blames the desertions as the handiwork of BJP as well as the TMC, with whom it works against the saffron party in Parliament. The grand old party blames the BJP for engineering defections to weaken the Congress and accuses the TMC of trying to dent Opposition unity by luring away its leaders.
Over the past years, promising young leaders leaving the Congress usually got painted as a sign of weak central leadership whereas factional fights in the state units were the real culprit many a time.
The Congress is the only party in the opposition camp with a pan-Indian presence. Yet, desertions from the grand old party have continued for long and given rise to a question if the organization has become complacent since losing power at the Center in 2014?
Whatever be the truth, the issue is once again being debated in the public domain after 12 of 18 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya ditched the party and merged with the Trinamool Congress making TMC the main opposition party.
The leaders who switched parties included former chief minister Mukul Sangma, who was Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and was reportedly unhappy with the central leadership over appointment of Shillong MP Vincent H Pala as state unit chief.
“Trinamool Congress has the potential to be the real alternative to BJP,” Mukul Sangma said after he joined the TMC.
Before that, team members of poll strategist Prashant Kishor were in Shillong to weigh in on TMC’s options ahead of the 2023 assembly polls. In 2012, the Meghalaya Pradesh Trinamool Congress was formally launched with an intention to contest 35 of the state’s 60 seats.
