TURA, Nov 12: The wheel has turned a full circle in the political area of Ampati where the daughter of a former politician defeated by Mukul Sangma is now challenging the former chief minister’s elected daughter for the hotly contested seat in the ensuing elections.
Uttora Sangma, daughter of former Ampati MLA, Monendra Agitok, is being fielded by the Congress to take on Mukul’s eldest daughter Miani D Shira in next year’s assembly elections.
A state government official in the education department who worked as the block mission coordinator in Gambegre region, Uttora Sangma took voluntary retirement to join the Congress and contest against the daughter of her father’s arch rival in what was once her dad’s turf and now the bastion of Mukul Sangma.
This political slugfest dates back to events that unfolded almost thirty-four years back when Uttora Sangma’s father was defeated by a greenhorn in the form of a young doctor Mukul Sangma who was propelled up by Purno A Sangma to bring down sitting Ampati MLA Monendro Agitok.
Monendro Agitok had shaken the powerful Congress party in Garo Hills when he snatched the Ampati seat, winning as an Independent in the February 1988 assembly elections.
It was a huge shock to the Congress, particularly Purno A Sangma who was the chief minister of the state then, when they lost a secured seat like Ampati to an Independent.
Purno Sangma would never forget that humiliation and he bid his time to return that favour. Five years later he would get his revenge.
Purno-backed Dr Mukul Sangma would go on to win the seat as an Independent.
Facing a political strategist like P A Sangma, Monendro Agitok moved towards the powerful regional opposition party, the Hill Peoples’ Union (HPU), which was part of the once mighty umbrella of the APHLC. However, it did not cut much ice as he lost the polls to Mukul Sangma convincingly.
There would be no turning back for Mukul Sangma as he went on a winning streak in Ampati for the next 25 years until he handed down the political mantle to his eldest daughter Miani D Shira, who retained her father’s bastion comfortably in the 2018 by-election despite a heavy campaign by the NPP.
Monendro Agitok tried to stage a comeback in two successive elections, but it was not to be.
It is now Agitok’s daughter Uttora Sangma who prepares to lock horns with the daughter of the very politician who defeated her father three decades ago.
Where and how the political battle turns is anybody’s guess, but it is going to be one of the most interesting contests ever witnessed in Ampati, when counting of votes takes place early next year.
