Mukul Sangma and D.D. Lapang

Shillong, April 23: A handful of Congress legislators and fence-sitters have put Mukul Sangma and his arch rival D.D. Lapang in a tricky situation as the fight for supremacy between the Meghalaya chief minister and the veteran politician rages on.

“Both Sangma and Lapang are in a difficult situation as a few veteran Congress legislators have been changing their minds too often. Moreover, the problem for them has aggravated because of those who are neither here nor there,” the source said.

Closed door meetings organised by both the Sangma and Lapang camps at undisclosed locations have been taking place for the past few days in a bid to gain control of the secretariat with just a little more than two years left before the next Assembly elections.

“Veteran legislators switch sides very often. One day they are with Sangma and the next with Lapang. It becomes very intricate to fathom the real situation,” the source said, adding that the chief minister had visited the legislators personally to garner their support to remain in the chair.

The political situation became fragile after a section of the 28 Congress legislators protested against Sangma’s alleged “autocratic” style of functioning.

Another Congress source said the move to oust Sangma is still “very much alive” and that it is “not the end” for the Lapang camp.

Meghalaya, notorious for political instability, has been witnessing immense turmoil within ruling camps ever since downsizing of ministries was made mandatory in 2004.

The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting scheduled for Monday is still a distant reality.

“Till today, the chief minister, who is also the CLP leader, has not sent any letter calling legislators for the meeting. We are not sure whether it would be called or not,” a source said.

The AICC general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya, Dhani Ram Shandil, and secretary Sanjay Bapna will arrive here tomorrow evening apparently on a “fact-finding trip” on the political situation.

Party sources, however, said that Shandil and Bapna were also touring other districts of the state to interact with Congress workers.

The two AICC functionaries would be going to Jaintia Hills district on Monday morning and upon their return would meet Congress workers from the city and its outskirts, the source added. From Tuesday, they will start touring the three Garo hills district.

Shandil and Bapna had come to the city on March 27, soon after the conclusion of the budget session, where they interacted with Congress workers. At that point of time, the political storm had already started brewing.

The two leaders had made it clear that Sangma would continue as the chief minister and that there were no reports of dissension within the CLP.

The one-year-old MUA government led by Sangma is the fourth in a span of over three years since the Assembly polls in March 2008.