Congress MPs from Northeast states of Assam and Meghalaya, on Wednesday, met party’s national president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.
The three-member Congress MPs delegation comprised – Meghalaya Congress president and Shillong MP Vincent Pala, deputy leader of opposition in Lok Sabha – Gaurav Gogoi and Assam Congress MPs Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque.
The meeting of the Congress MPs from Assam and Meghalaya with party president Sonia Gandhi comes at a time when the grand-old party seems to be losing its hold in the Northeast.
Northeast was once considered to be a bastion for the Congress party for most parts of post-independence era.
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Notably, at least 12 legislators in Meghalaya, including former chief minister Mukul Sangma had quit the Congress and joined the TMC recently.
Mukul Sangma, after quitting the Congress, had said that he and 11 other legislators took the decision to quit the grand-old party for the “interest of the people of Meghalaya”.
In Assam, the Congress has witnessed massive erosion, as two of its top leaders in the state – Rupjyoti Kurmi and Sushanta Borgohain had quit the party earlier and joined the BJP.
Both the leaders had expressed dissatisfaction over the current Congress leadership both at the state and national level.
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On the other hand, TMC has also been able to make inroads into Assam politics as it roped in Sushmita Dev, a former top Congress leader in the country.
Sushmita Dev, now a TMC Rajya Sabha MP and a political stalwart in Assam’s Barak Valley, was serving as the president of the All India Mahila Congress (AIMC), when she quit the party and joined the TMC.