GUWAHATI: Conrad Sangma’s continuance as Meghalaya Chief Minister hinges on the results of Thursday’s by-election to South Tura seat, vacated by his sister Agatha Sangma for him. She will contest next year’s Lok Sabha polls if Sangma gets through.
Sangma, son of former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma, has to get elected to the Assembly to be able to continue as the CM. He donned the CM’s mantle after the National People’s Party-led (NPP) Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) formed the government in March this year. He was then serving as Tura MP.
Sangma, who is the NPP chief, is up against Charlotte W Momin of the Congress and independent candidates John Leslee K Sangma, who is a former MLA, and Chris Kabul A Sangma. His victory is a foregone conclusion given the Sangma family’s clout over voters in Garo Hills.
Sangma is confident of victory.
“I am pretty sure people will vote for me for the MDA government’s development initiatives taken over the past few months,” he said.
Another constituency going to by-election is Ranikor. The seat fell vacant after five-time sitting Congress MLA Martin K Danggo resigned to contest as an NPP candidate. The by-election here assumes significance given that NPP’s two regional allies United Democratic Party (UDP) and People’s Democratic Front (PDF) fielded candidates against Danggo. This gave rise to speculations that all was not well within the ruling alliance.
However, NPP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong made light of the perceived “differences”. “The MDA allies are at liberty to face each other in elections,” He said.
In the quadrilateral contest, Danggo is up against UDP’s Pius Marwein, PDF’s PN Syiem and Congress’s Jackiush Sangma.
The Election Commission has roped in a bunch of runners in Ranikor to relay messages to election officials on the polling day. The runners, who take part in various competitions, will go a maximum of 40-km up and down to transmit messages. At least five polling stations in Ranikor are perched on inaccessible hills and the roads leading to them are non-motorable.