The Trinamool Congress has five MLAs in the 60-member State Assembly. File.
| Photo Credit: AP
GUWAHATI
The Trinamool Congress (TMC), Meghalaya’s largest Opposition party, has decided not to contest the elections to two influential tribal councils in the State.
The elections to the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council are scheduled for February 21.
Senior TMC leader and former Chief Minister, Mukul M. Sangma said the “ground realities” made his party skip the polls across the hills dominated by the matrilineal Khasi and Jaintia communities.
“It is not necessary for us to fight the district council election because we want to strengthen the party at the grassroots level. We have to be practical,” he said on Friday (February 7, 2025).
Meghalaya is an important State for the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC beyond West Bengal, where it is in power. The party has five MLAs in the northeastern State’s 60-member Assembly followed by the regional Voice of the People Party with four MLAs, and Congress with one.
Barring the TMC, all the parties are contesting the tribal council polls. They include the parties in the ruling coalition headed by the National People’s Party (32 MLAs).
The TMC did not have any base in Meghalaya until November 2021 when 12 Congress legislators, led by Mr Sangma, joined it. The West Bengal-based party contested the 2023 Assembly elections but could manage only five seats.
The TMC has a stronger hold in the Garo Hills comprising the western half of Meghalaya than the eastern half straddling the Khasi and Jaintia Hills.
Published – February 08, 2025 09:03 am IST
