GUWAHATI: The BJP in Meghalaya has challenged Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma of the National People’s Party (NPP) to contest the Assembly elections only from his pet South Tura seat in the Garo Hills region.
The BJP threw down the gauntlet soon after its state vice president Bernard N Marak had walked out of jail on bail on Wednesday. He was arrested in July for allegedly running a brothel from his Tura farmhouse “Rimpu Bagan”. Subsequently, several cases, including one under the Arms Act, were registered against him.
BJP state president Ernest Mawrie asked Sangma “not to hedge his career by fighting on two seats” but face the might of Marak in his (CM’s) own backyard the South Tura seat. The BJP said Marak was released against all odds and despite the best efforts of the NPP-led government to keep him in lockup. “The CM is aware of the rising popularity of Bernard Marak and is scared of losing the people’s mandate in Tura,” Mawrie said.