Former Meghalaya chief minister and current leader of opposition Mukul Sangma has rubbished news reports of him being in touch with leaders of the Trinamool Congress.
“Take it from me, I have not met or spoken to anyone from any quarter and I don’t know the source of such misleading information,” Sangma said over the phone while returning to Shillong from Tura. The senior Congress leader added, “I have not accepted any calls and except for a few close friends who were curious at the news I have not even broached the subject.”
The former CM made the statement after reports of him meeting senior TMC leaders in Kolkata on Tuesday surfaced in local media leading to speculations that he might quit Congress.
Rejecting all speculation of his looking at alternative parties after being sidelined by the Congress in the appointment of the state party president Lok Sabha MP Vincent H Pala, the veteran leader said, “Why should I selectively speak to only one media, if I wish to make an announcement I’ll do it at the correct time at a correct forum and you will all be there.”
Lately, rumours have been rife with unverified information that Sangma was looking at joining other political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In fact, a local BJP leader in Meghalaya had told a popular vernacular daily that the BJP is waiting to welcome him to its fold.
HT reached out to Pala for his take on the media report and he outrightly denied knowledge of it saying that he was too preoccupied with settling down to his new task and other important matters. “I have absolutely no knowledge of any such incident or any such move. I think it is purely someone’s speculation,” the new Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee chief said while emphasising, “I am also not aware of any authorised Congress source speaking to any media house. You should ask the reporter from where they got this.”
{{/usCountry}}HT reached out to Pala for his take on the media report and he outrightly denied knowledge of it saying that he was too preoccupied with settling down to his new task and other important matters. “I have absolutely no knowledge of any such incident or any such move. I think it is purely someone’s speculation,” the new Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee chief said while emphasising, “I am also not aware of any authorised Congress source speaking to any media house. You should ask the reporter from where they got this.”
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