Tura, Jan 30: The Congress may have gotten a head start in the selection of candidate for Tura Lok Sabha seat, with sitting Gambegre MLA Saleng A Sangma being announced as the party candidate to take on NPP’s sitting MP Agatha K Sangma, but a herculean task awaits the grand old party as it scouts for friends and allies in a region it once dominated for decades.

The Congress has only one legislator in the Garo Hillls which sends as many as 24 elected representatives to the 60 member house in the state.

Its numbers have also diminished in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) where almost its entire flock of elected MDCs migrated into the Trinamool camp after the defection of Congress leader and former chief minister Mukul Sangma into Mamata Bannerjee’s TMC.

The Congress had bagged over a dozen MDC seats in the last GHADC polls and narrowly lost out to the NPP in forming the council Executive Committee.

With just one MLA in a region overrun by the opposition NPP that has as many as 18 MLAs, including one Independent (Baghmara) on their side, the Congress party has its task cut out for the upcoming parliamentary elections.

It is here that the importance of the Trinamool Congress and Mukul Sangma comes into play.

Will the TMC play ball and go with supporting the Congress or put up its own candidate?
All indications are that the TMC will be putting up its own candidate to take on the NPP, the BJP and even the Congress.

This projection is gaining ground because the seat sharing agreement chalked out between the Congress and TMC collapsed in West Bengal, just days ago.

The TMC has decided to field its own candidates in all constituencies of Bengal leaving the Congress at crossroads.

“Why should Meghalaya and Garo Hills be any different. We have a strong base here and sizeable number of MDCs and more MLAs than the Congress,” said a trinamool functionary from Tura, pointing out to the four MLAs of the party, namely Mukul Sangma in Songsak, his daughter Miani D Shira in Ampati, Rupa Marak in Dadenggre and Dr Muzanur Kazi in Rajabala.

It is no secret that Mukul Sangma, despite losing out to the NPP in the last elections, continues to hold considerable support along the Ampati-Mahendraganj-Rajabala-Phulbari-Dadenggre belt, besides his own constituency in Songsak.

It is this particular region that can play a deciding factor at the polls given that it holds one of the largest share of votes in any election.

Will Mukul and his party jump into the electoral fray from Tura is anyone’s guess, but given the shrewd political acumen he has long known to possess, its unlikely he would let such an opportunity passby.

The multi contest shaping up is also fraught with danger for both the Congress and the TMC as it can lead to a division of votes that will with all probability benefit the NPP.

The BJP putting up a candidate is unlikely to dent the NPP prospects because NPP votes seldom go to the BJP or vice versa.

Also Read : Meghalaya police cautions people against new online scam ‘Numgenious AI’

Also Watch

Find latest news from every corner of Northeast India at hubnetwork.in, your online source for breaking news, video coverage.

Also, Follow us on-

Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub

Youtube channel- www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020

Instagram- www.instagram.com/nemediahub