Mamata Banerjee's TMC gives yet another jolt to Congress in Meghalaya; 11 members switch sides

Shillong, Dec 9: In yet another setback to Congress in Meghalaya, 11 members of a tribal council in North Garo Hills district joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC), leaving Congress with zero representation in the 30-member Garo Hills Autonomous District Council after all its 11 members switched sides.

The TMC is now the main opposition in the local body. The NPP and the BJP have 17 and two members respectively in the council. The northeastern state is divided into three autonomous councils for Khasi, Jaintia and Garo tribes.

"A very special day for us as 11 MDCs join our family in Resubelpara, North Garo Hills. We warmly welcome each and everyone!" the TMC state unit posted on Twitter.

Former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma, who had recently left Congress and joined the TMC, welcomed them. "Under the leadership of @MamataOfficial, we will dedicatedly ensure that our state keeps scaling greater heights," the TMC said.

The desertion of the MDCs came two weeks after 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs in the Meghalaya Assembly joined the Trinamool Congress, dealing a body blow to the grand old party in the northeastern state.

Not just in Meghalaya alone, Congress leaders in poll-bound Goa have left the grand old party in the recent past and joined the party led by Mamata Banerjee, who aspires to lead the opposition front in the 2024 Loksabha elections.