Didi to sound poll bugle in Meghalaya today
New Delhi, January 17
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to sound the poll bugle for the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in Meghalaya on Wednesday, days after three of the 12 party MLAs joined rival parties.
The dates for Assembly elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura are expected to be announced this week. Each of the three states has a 60-member House.
Banerjee, also chairperson of TMC, would be addressing a public rally at Mendipathar in the North Garo Hills district tomorrow.
This will be Banerjee’s second visit to Meghalaya after her two-day stay in state capital Shillong in December last year, where she launched the WE Card, the TMC’s financial assistance scheme for women.
The TMC has been focusing on the Garo Hills region where 24 Assembly seats are located. Of the 12 Congress MLAs who joined the TMC in November 2021, nine, including former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, hail from the region.
The TMC got a setback when three of its MLAs quit the party recently. While Marthon Sangma and Jimmy D Sangma — both from Garo Hills — joined the National People’s Party (NPP), Himalaya M Shangpliang from East Khasi Hills joined the BJP.
The NPP is the largest party in Meghalaya. The BJP is a member of the NPP-led coalition government, but the two parties have not entered into any alliance for the coming Asembly elections.
The TMC supremo will be accompanied by the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and MP Derek O’Brien during her trip to Meghalaya tomorrow.
