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Mahendraganj Assembly seat: where family alone counts

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Mahendraganj: In the muddy waters of Meghalaya’s electoral politics, everything is fair in love, war and much more. Electoral battles in the state, as in the rest of India, bring together strange bedfellows and family alliances seem to overwhelm issues.

And Garo Hills is no different! In the last bid to win electoral battles politicians of all hues will fall back on their families to bring the trophy home.

The frontier constituency of Mahendraganj in South West Garo Hills district is a perfect example of how family politics is at play.

The constituency is currently represented by Chief Minister Mukul Sangma’s wife Dikkanchi D Shira who is seeking a re-election from the ST reserved seat on a Congress ticket.

The Congress’s prime adversary-National People’s Party is also resting its hopes on the family bandwagon to help it cruise through the electoral fray.

The NPP has fielded Sanjay A Sangma, brother-in-law of NPP chief and Tura MP Conrad K Sangma, for the Mahendraganj seat.

The NPP candidate, a businessman from Tura, having his roots in Boldamgre village of Mahendraganj is a greenhorn in politics. But, he has the backing of the party machinery and is hoping to exploit the ‘disillusionment’ among voters against the ruling Congress.

“There is a very strong anti-incumbency factor working against the Congress and its sitting MLA because no development has taken place in the constituency in the last five years,” alleges Sanjay Sangma as he welcomes a group of Congress workers who have defected to the NPP side on Tuesday.

The disgruntled Congress party functionaries are led by none other than Abdul Sattar alias Nondi, elder brother of former Mahendraganj legislator Abdus Saleh.

Sattar brings over thirty key Congress workers into the NPP fold some of whom are senior functionaries, such as Nur Islam, Paresh Barman, Abdul Kaddeer, Majnu Khandakar, Jafrul Haque, Uttam Das, Chitor Ranjan Modak, Chengman Ch Marak, Epison D Sangma, Wilseng Marak and Paul Marak.

The disgruntled Congress workers accuse their sitting legislator of failing to fulfill the promises made to the people of Mahendraganj and not giving an ear to their concerns.

Welcoming them into the NPP fold, the Tura MP said, “The fact that Congress workers are deserting their party over lack of development speaks volumes. Mukul Sangma’s tall promises to get his wife re-elected won’t work this time,” says a beaming Conrad in the presence of the former Congress workers.

This border constituency has a mixed population of Garos, Bengali Muslims, and minority Hindu plain tribes like the Koch and Hajongs. The constituency is also categorized as a sensitive seat in view of previous group clashes.

The Congress made a dramatic snatch of the constituency in 2013 when Dikkanchi D Shira won her maiden victory to the state assembly with a thumping majority.

The Congress is unlikely to leave the battlefield at such a crucial juncture. A few days ago, Dikkanchi’s brother-in-law and sports minister Zenith Sangma had rallied support for her by holding several election meetings where he spoke about the developmental works undertaken by the Congress government under Mukul Sangma.

To counter the Congress onslaught, NPP Chief Conrad Sangma has been extensively touring Mahendraganj addressing rallies and giving assurances of equal development to all.

“If NPP candidate Sanjay Sangma is elected then Mahendraganj will get double benefits from an MLA and an MP,” says Conrad.

It remains to be seen whose words and promises the voters of Mahendraganj will take with them when they head to the polling station to cast their votes on February 27th.

 

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