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Mukul Sangma elected Trinamool Congress’ parliamentary party leader
The move comes after the Trinamool Congress became the principal opposition party in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly after the former Congress legislators joined it. Prior to switching sides, Sangma was the leader of the opposition in the Meghalaya assembly.
Two days after he quit the Congress along with 11 other party MLAs, former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma was on Friday named the parliamentary party leader of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the state.
The unanimous decision was taken during the first parliamentary party meeting of the TMC held at Sangma’s residence. All the legislators led by the former CM are flying to Kolkata on Saturday to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other senior TMC leaders.
Friday’s meeting, which was attended by all the 12 MLAs, also elected Umroi legislator George B Lyngdoh as the opposition chief whip and Mawsynram legislator Himalaya M Shangpliang as secretary.
The move comes after the Trinamool Congress became the principal opposition party in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly after the former Congress legislators joined it. Prior to switching sides, Sangma was the leader of the opposition in the Meghalaya assembly.
Addressing party members, Sangma thanked everyone for reposing faith in him as a leader. He assured them that he would carry forward the aspirations of the people in fulfilling the mandate given to the MLAs.
Following the meeting, Shangpliang told journalists that the 12 MLAs reiterated their commitment to work hard and would be reaching out to the people of the state. “In totality, we have decided that all of us will contribute to the development of the state,” he affirmed.
Shangpliang also informed that the newly formed parliamentary party will meet the chairperson of the TMC, Mamata Banerjee on November 29. “Our leader (Sangma) is leading us as a delegation to Kolkata to meet the chairperson of TMC on Monday. We are going to have detailed discussions on the future of the party in our state,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the former Congress legislators were formally welcomed into the TMC family by its national leaders and top emissaries of party supremo Mamata Banerjee - Manas Ranjan Bhuiya and Moloy Ghatak, both senior cabinet ministers in West Bengal.
Welcoming them, Bhuiya said, “We have come to greet you and pay our respects to you for standing beside the leadership of the Trinamool Congress to fight forces that are trying to destabilise the country; Forces that are here to destroy the democratic fibre of the Indian democracy, and all democratic norms.”
The West Bengal Minister for Water Resources, Investigation and Development said, “We are tremendously happy that the very tall leader Mukul Sangma, a former Chief Minister and equally tall leader Charles Pyngrope, the former Speaker and our esteemed MLA colleagues have come together to work for the people under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee in the TMC family, even as he underscored, “Their presence, leadership and experience will surely encourage the people of Meghalaya to come along with us and together work towards a truly brighter tomorrow.”
Moloy Ghatak the Law Minister of West Bengal said, “In Meghalaya the TMC has become the main opposition party. Under instructions and guidance of our leader Abhishek Banerjee, we have come to Meghalaya to formally hand over the party flag to our legislators of Meghalaya who have joined us to strengthen the party further.”
