Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People's Party supremo Conrad K Sangma on Thursday claimed that the NPP is set to form the next government in the state and called upon opposition Trinamool Congress supporters to vote for his party.
He alleged that Mukul Sangma will desert the TMC as soon as the elections are over and TMC will remain another party from outside the state.
The chief minister said NPP as a party will protect and safeguard the interest of the people of Meghalaya.
"It is no point in supporting TMC or any other parties. NPP is set to form the next government. Let us not waste our vote and come out to vote and pledge support for NPP," the Chief Minister said while campaigning for his elder brother and NPP candidate James P K Sangma at Daddenggre constituency in West Garo Hills district.
"Unlike the governments in the past, where Mukul Sangma was part of, which used guns and force to scare people, we as government have not resorted to using force to oppose them. We believe in engaging dialogue with protesting organisations rather than using guns and force," the NPP chief said.
According to the chief minister, in the last five years there were many challenges before the government, there were situations when civil bodies had protested against the government but the government never used force but always initiated dialogue with the agitating groups.
"We as a government respect the sentiment of the people... We believe in seeking public opinion in the decision we take," he said.
The chief minister's mother Soradini K Sangma urged the people of Dadenggre to vote for her elder son James.
She told the gathering that people of Garo Hills have done so much for their family that her late husband P A Sangma has given the task to his children to work for the people of Garo Hills.
In Shillong, TMC leader Mahua Moitra on Thursday when asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's allegation that TMC is contesting the Meghalaya Assembly election to help the BJP said the TMC is contesting the February 27 elections as a national party and is not here to prove the credentials to anyone but to provide to the people of Meghalaya an alternative.
"We are out to defeat the BJP and all the allies of the BJP. We have proven to have fought the BJP and won the elections," she said.
She claimed that the TMC is a national party just as the BJP or the Congress.
When asked about the TMC carrying an outsider party tag in Meghalaya, she said "How come the BJP and Congress don't have the tag of an outsider party as they are headquartered in New Delhi?"
"Our state president Charles is from here, our leader Mukul Sangma is a two-time former chief minister of Meghalaya," she said Ms Moitra claimed that every Trinamool Congress leader and party worker in Meghalaya is from the state.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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