New Delhi: After 12 of 17 Congress MLAs in Meghalaya joined the Trinamool Congress, the former’s West Bengal unit chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday claimed that a “conspiracy to break Congress is happening not only in Meghalaya but whole northeast”.


He also challenged the Trinamool Congress to make the 12 MLAs contest on its ticket and see if they win. 


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“This conspiracy to break Congress is happening not only in Meghalaya but whole northeast. I challenge the TMC to make them resign as the Congress MLA and contest on the party’s ticket,” Adhir Rajan Chowdhury said, as quoted by ANI.


He further stressed, “Even if they reportedly joined the TMC, they are still the Congress MLA and it is the Congress voters who have voted them. If they win on TMC tickets then we will recognise your capability”. 


He also claimed that the TMC wants to divide Congress and help Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP. 


The remarks come as 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs in the Meghalaya Assembly on Thursday joined the Trinamool Congress, dealing a body blow to the grand old party in the northeastern state, their leader and former chief minister Mukul Sangma said, as reported by news agency PTI.


He said that the decision to shift allegiance to Mamata Banerjee’s party was taken after “exhaustive due diligence and analysis about how best to serve the people”.


“The decision has been taken with utmost sense of humility, responsibility, and commitment towards fulfilling our responsibility to the people, the state, and the nation,” he told a press conference, as quoted by PTI.


The massive jolt to the main opposition Congress came as the 12 leaders decided to join the TMC in a late-night development on Wednesday.


The breakaway group had submitted a list of MLAs crossing over to the TMC to state Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh and informed him about their decision.


The development comes as a major boost for the party led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been trying to expand her party’s footprint beyond her native state.


The TMC’s attempts at electoral gains in states like Meghalaya, Goa, and Tripura also are seen as hinting towards the party supremo’s larger vision of being the prime ministerial candidate in the next general election.


(With Agency Inputs)