SHILLONG: After having learnt a lesson from Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress leadership is closely monitoring the political developments in Meghalaya, where a section of the ruling Congress MLAs have raised a banner of revolt against Chief Minister Mukul Sangma.
“We are alert and vigilant and closely watching everyone’s moves. We are not taking things lightly because there have been instances where we have seen the involvement of various forces, including the BJP, in destabilising Congress governments. We have seen it in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” Sangma told Express. The BJP was allegedly instrumental in dislodging the Nabam Tuki government in Arunachal Pradesh in February.
Meghalaya has a history of political instability. Except for once, when Salseng C Marak completed his five-year term, no other CM could remain in office for the full term. The state is now faced with an Arunachal-type situation, but the BJP does not have any MLA here. In the 60-member Meghalaya House, the Congress has 30 MLAs. While Sangma claimed the issue of leadership had been resolved, Pradesh Congress Committee president and former chief minister, D D Lapang said the ball is in the AICC court.
Sangma denied reports that state Congress had sent an SOS to party leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi about BJP threat. ” The letter was written two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Shillong. Sangma claimed that there was no threat to his government.