SHILLONG:
State vice-president of the opposition All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) Meghalaya George Lyngdoh steered clear of rumours doing the rounds that there were arrangements for the candidates to stay with the party only till the elections and join the BJP post polls.
Lyngdoh said, “There might be rumours but we had gone to 2023 elections with one mind, agenda, goal to ensure that TMC comes into power, and being a new party that was set up in just 6-7 months before elections, we had 56 candidates and this showed that our intent was pure.”
When asked about TMC losing out on prominent leaders, Lyngdoh said, “Losing a prominent leader for any political party, especially the sitting legislator is a setback.”
To a question on whether he regretted moving out of Congress, the former Umroi legislator replied in the negative. “The kind of problems that had been there within Congress was not about 12 MLAs moving out but the five being kicked out,” he said.
When asked about the change in the party status, Lyngdoh responded that when the party was present only in West Bengal, it was a national party, but now that the party has expanded and won a sizable portion of the vote share, and even has some MLAs in Meghalaya, the party downgraded to a state party.
“This decision was unexpected especially right after the election and that the party has some MLAs in another state apart from Bengal. The party is doing its homework, perhaps initiative should be taken to appeal against this decision,” he said.