Congress President Sonia Gandhi with son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi (File photo)
Highlights
- BJP spreading dissidence in Congress in Meghalaya, say sources
- Note to party chief says Meghalaya Congress chief met BJP's Himanta Biswa
- 'No threat to my government', Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma told NDTV
Leaders of the ruling Congress in Meghalaya have sent a three-page SOS to party president Sonia Gandhi and her son and deputy Rahul, saying they are worried that "the BJP is camping in Shillong" and looking to stir trouble for the state government.
The letter was written on Monday, just two days after
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Shillong to mark two years of his government and not long after the BJP won Assam and declared that it would now focus on consolidating its position in the rest of the North East.
"The BJP is camping in Shillong and are in connivance with two cabinet ministers," the Congress note says, detailing an alleged meeting of state Congress chief DD Lapang with senior BJP leader Ram Madhav and Himanta Biswa, the party's newly acquired strategist in Assam who now heads a north east alliance announced by the BJP.
The letter details the fragile state of the Congress in Meghalaya, where it rules with the help of allies - it has just 30 lawmakers in the 60-member assembly, and is now grappling with rebellion in a replay of recent revolts in Congress governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
Like in those states, the Congress dissidents in Meghalaya have accused chief minister Mukul Sangma of "dictatorial ways." Among those named in the letter is former Union Minister Vincent Pala who had recently met Rahul Gandhi to complain against Mukul Sangma.
Ram Madhav denied that he has met Mr Lapang, saying, "There is trouble for the Congress there. But their allegations are totally false. The Congress should fix their own issues."
Mukul Sangma described the letter as an "internal exercise" and told NDTV, "there are always people with evil designs, but my government is stable." In Delhi, Congress leader Sushmita Deb said, "we are handling it at the AICC level and we hope the BJP does not attempt to precipitate a further crisis as they have attempted to do in the past."
The Congress has 30 seats in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly and has the support of the Nationalist Congress Party's two lawmakers, and 11 independents.