States » EastPosted at: Oct 8 2026 10:16PM


Meghalaya must reject BJP’s 'quid pro quo' politics, says TMC leader Mukul Sangma

Shillong, Oct 8 (UNI) Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly, Mukul M. Sangma, on Thursday took a direct swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of leveraging false promises and "quid pro quo" political maneuvering to sway voters ahead of the 2028 State Assembly elections.
He asserted that the people of Meghalaya must stand together to reject this style of "quid pro quo" politics.
The former Chief Minister termed the BJP’s assurances regarding the resumption of regulated coal mining and other long-pending demands as merely a rerun of its unfulfilled promises from the 2018 assembly election campaign.
Recalling that the BJP had explicitly claimed during the 2018 Assembly election campaign that coal mining would resume within six months in the state, Sangma said, “The rhetoric from the BJP, including statements from their general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya, made it seem as though they would perform miracles. The reality is that the public has been taken for a ride."
Sangma was reacting to recent political developments in which eight of the 12 legislators from the United Democratic Party (UDP)—the state's main regional political outfit—joined the BJP last month.
The merger followed assurances from the BJP leadership that it would resolve critical state-specific issues, such as coal mining regulations and the recognition of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Sangma said the eight former UDP legislators are now trying to justify their switch by projecting the BJP as the savior of coal mining.
“Why are they (the UDP-turned-BJP legislators) victims of poaching? They are victims of poaching, and they have gone not in the interest of the people, nor to facilitate coal mining. Let me be blunt—integrity in public life is the strongest weapon,” the TMC leader stated.
Alleging that the BJP is weaponizing its position in Delhi, Sangma said, "The BJP has to weaponize its power, which means the BJP is weaponizing its position in Delhi to engage in poaching by inducement, promising 'I will do this'."
Terming the defection of the eight UDP legislators as "outright corruption," the veteran leader slammed the transactional nature of the shift.
“It is a quid pro quo; when it is put into action, it is corruption. It means 'you join, we will give.' That is illegal, unethical, and unconstitutional," Sangma said, adding that such political maneuvering does not augur well for the future of the nation.
Noting that Central funds and resources are the state's constitutional right, not favors from the ruling party at the Center, the former Chief Minister said, “Whatever comes to the state is the entitlement of the state as per constitutional provisions. We are not beggars.”
“The Constitution is very robust in granting a share of power and resources. Whatever the state is entitled to, no Government of India can withhold. Do these respective legislators not know this?" he questioned.
“We should not misguide people to justify their own unfortunate situation where they have become victims of poaching. There may be many other reasons why they have become victims of poaching that we will never know," Sangma added.
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