The Trinamool Congress (TMC), which rose to prominence in Meghalaya after a “political coup” in which 12 of the 17 Congress MLAs switched their allegiance to it, is now attempting to break into Nagaland, where a coalition of parties, including the BJP, is in power.
Twelve unhappy BJP politicians from the state have set up camp in Kolkata, where they will meet with TMC leaders. They are expected to join the party soon, led by a former deputy speaker of the Assembly.
According to Nagaland BJP sources, these non-sitting MLAs were dissatisfied with the way a few senior politicians, including Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton, worked.
“We’re aware that this group of leaders is based in Kolkata. They were dissatisfied with the party’s leadership, especially the Deputy Chief Minister,” a BJP insider informed this newspaper.
The insider, who is a senior leader, blamed the party leadership for the ruling coalition’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) joining forces with the lone opposition party with elected representatives, the Naga People’s Front (NPF), a few months ago, to form an “Opposition-less” government, despite the coalition having enough MLAs.
A group of BJP politicians apparently had a tight relationship with the NPF, putting NDPP leader and Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio in jeopardy of losing power. So he came to an agreement with the NPF and inducted it into the government in order to thwart the BJP’s alleged plot to destabilise his government.
Two years ago, the BJP began to show fractures. Despite various district presidents raising the issue at multiple levels within the party, the problem persists. In the 60-member House, the BJP has 12 MLAs.
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