Shillong (Meghalaya ), May 11 : Dismissing rumours about switching over to BJP, Meghalaya Trinamool Congress leader Dr. Mukul Sangma on Wednesday said such rumours are only based in speculation and emphasised that political unification is the need of the hour.
He also said that a day after results, BJP leader Alexander Laloo Hek had asked him to ensure that the current dispensation doesn’t come back to power.
While addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Dr. Sangma refuted the claim that he was offered to join saffron party by BJP leader Alexander Laloo Hek, a day after the results for the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly were declared.
“We had tea that morning [on March 3] and congratulated each other. He was also in a hurry to go to his meeting but he told me that he was not happy with the outcome of the election results.
BJP went hammer and tongs to win as many seats as available. His concern was pertaining to whether we allow the continuation of this government. The only one thing he said was, ‘please do anything to see that the same regime does not come again’ and we said that we are doing it precisely,” he said.
Dr. Sangma also expressed concerns saying the planted speculations might be the handiwork of those who wanted to divert attention from important issues. He also said that TMC’s strategies and priorities remain the welfare of the people. “I have only learned about these things from such stories…but after reading them, I understood that it was a product of speculation, assumption and presumption,” he said, urging media to seek responses from him when such claims emerge.
The Meghalaya TMC leader also referred to the party’s efforts to stitch an alliance and added that in the coming days, they would take on the state government. “We would also like other MLAs to join us and merge with our party. The state today needs unification and the coming together of all political parties. I tried this with leaders of different political parties [after the elections] to do justice to the aspirations of the people,” he said, adding that the mandate was against the MDA government.
He also said that the events that unfolded after the results showed how “unhealthy, unscrupulous horse trading must have followed” to allow the reinstatement of the same regime. Dr. Sangma added that in the coming days, “many things will unfold” and the TMC will be taking on the government.
