On December 14, HM Shangpliang of the Trinamool Congress and three other current legislators joined the Meghalaya BJP. This occurs as Mamata Banerjee, the party’s leader and chief minister of Bengal is in the region.
Prior to the 2023 Meghalaya Assembly elections, HM Shangpliang of the TMC, Benedic Marak and Ferlin Sangma of the National People’s Party, and Samuel Sangma, an independent MLA, have all joined the BJP.
Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh received resignation letters from Shangpliang, Ferlin Sangman, and Benedic Marak last month. They currently belong to the BJP, a coalition partner in the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance in power in the northeastern state.
There was widespread speculation that these politicians will soon leave their current parties and join the BJP in time for the state elections. Meghalaya will have assembly elections early in 2019.
In the meantime, Mamata Banerjee claimed that the BJP-led Centre has neglected Meghalaya and other northeastern states and that her party wants to help the people of Meghalaya to ensure that the state is run by “sons of the land” in her speech at a TMC workers’ convention in Shillong on December 13.
News Mania Desk
