Shillong, Sep 20 (IANS): Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma shared a table with an alleged drug lord at a recent gathering in Delhi, Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Sangma said on Tuesday.+

Participating in a discussion in the Assembly on "menace of drugs and substance abuse", Mukul Sangma showed a photo of the alleged drug kingpin, Henry, at the event with the Chief Minister.

However, Conrad Sangma denied the accusations and claimed that, despite the fact that many people have their pictures taken with him as a prominent person, it does not imply that he is associated with them.

"In the age of social media, this is the most ridiculous way of trying to prove anything," he said.

However, Mukul Sangma said: "I have to advise the Chief Minister to avoid any association with this man. He (Chief Minister) knows the man's history, right? I wanted to learn how the man managed to get a seat at the same table at such a high-profile event in Delhi. I was told that the Chief Minister's office sought this seating arrangement.”

"We need to be cautious about who we associate with. These persons will have access if not. If they are traveling in the same convoy as us, if they are Z-plus category, and if they have access to such prestigious events. Fighting this specific threat is a serious duty. We cannot act like small children who refuse to say goodbye to their old friends who may have wandered off."

In reaction, the Chief Minister said that both he and the Trinamool leader are well-known figures who receive millions of photo requests. "The most irrational inference someone can draw, in my opinion, is one that links the actions of two people based solely on an image.

"Even if there were any events that two persons attended together or any seating arrangements were made. These things do occur. Organisational committees create the programs. Thousands of people sit around us."

"Do I appear in any police reports? Mukul Sangma shouldn't be drawing such hasty assumptions."