SHILLONG: In yet another jolt to the Congress in Meghalaya, 11 members of a tribal council in North Garo Hills district joined the Trinamool Congress, making the Mamata Banerjee-led party main opposition in the local body.
The Congress has no representation in the 30-member Garo Hills Autonomous District Council after all its 11 members switched sides.
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 wrote on Twitter.
Former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma, who had recently switched over to 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.