The picturesque 22km route from the Shillong airport to the city centre witnessed unusual scenes on Monday as hundreds of people gathered along the roads, dotted with Trinamul Congress flags and adorned with giant gates welcoming Mamata Banerjee, to have a glimpse of the Bengal chief minister.
The arrival of Mamata, along with Trinamul national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, in poll-bound Meghalaya assumes significance for two reasons, multiple sources in the party said.
First, it captures her endorsement of Abhishek’s strategy of inorganic growth beyond Bengal and puts to rest speculations in the party that experiments beyond the home state don’t have the blessings of 30B Harish Chatterjee Street.
A gate welcoming Mamata Banerjee to Meghalaya. Devadeep Purohit
Second, Trinamul will continue to strive for footprints outside Bengal in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as part of its attempts to match the Aam Aadmi Party, which has made its presence felt beyond Delhi and emerged as a key player in the Opposition block.
The Trinamul team led by Abhishek, which is working on Mission Meghalaya, is bullish that the party has the ability to spring a surprise in the polls, due in another three months. Trinamul became the main Opposition party in the 60-member Assembly in November 2021 after former Congress chief minister Mukul Sangma switched to Mamata’s camp, along with 11 MLAs.
The northeastern state is ruled by the National People’s Party, an ally of the BJP.
“The NPP government is facing anti-incumbency because of its failure to bring about a change in the quality of lives of the people.... And it’s also true that Sangma has a following in large parts of the state. I can’t comment on whether they will be able to form a government here, but there is a possibility of them bagging a considerable vote share,” said a political observer based in Shillong.
This possibility, h e stressed, has brought Mamata to Meghalaya though Trinamul’s earlier attempts to expand beyond Bengal didn’t yield the desired results in Manipur, Assam, Tripura and Goa where the party committed enough resources in electoral battles.
Mamata, who landed at the Shillong airport in the afternoon, was greeted by Trinamul supporters, mostly with Congress roots. She patiently received the ceremonial welcome, interacted with the supporters, happily posed for photographs and walked a distance before getting into her car. Local people, who had assembled at the airport to witness the spectacle, said the convoy of 50-60 cars and the excitement at the quiet airport was a “big change”.
Trinamul has “change” as its theme for the state that has over 86 per cent tribal population.
On Tuesday, she will address a convention of party workers, who would come from 60-odd blocks, which would officially launch Trinamul’s Mission Meghalaya.
“What you saw at the airport and on the roads till the hotel bears the proof of Trinamul’s acceptance in the state and the emergence of a new platform to replace the incumbent government.... Trinamul is here to fulfil people’s thirst for a change in the state,” said Sangma, who received Mamata at the airport.
While the Trinamul camp is bullish about its abilities to become a major player in the state of around 28 lakh people, it is easier said than done primarily for two reasons.
First, the NPP-BJP alliance has already created a narrative that Trinamul is an entity from “outside”, which may go against the party in a state where regional aspiration has strong roots.
Sangma, aware of the campaign, took a principled position on the issue and said such a narrative was not only against the ethos of inclusive India but was also antithetical to the spirit of Shillong, the capital known for its cosmopolitan culture. Now, it remains to be seen whether Trinamul’s promise of change, the cult of Mamata and Sangma’s acceptance as a leader can help the party overcome the “outsider” tag.
The other constraint, a political observer said, is the nature of politics in Meghalaya where having a block of MLAs doesn’t necessarily mean the party would be able to form the government.
In the last polls in 2018, the Congress was the single largest party with 21 seats, but it could not form the government. “Money is a big factor here and a lot of things change even after elections.... One shouldn’t forget a party like the NPP, which has the support of the BJP, also has a battle chest. It remains to be seen whether Trinamul can match them,” said the observer.
