NPP targets Dikkanchi bastion, ropes in Hajong

SHILLONG: NPP leader Purno A Sangma targeted the constituency of Dikkanchi D Shira, sitting legislator and wife of Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma by roping in former Congress leader from Mahendraganj, Nidhuram Hajong and his supporters.
Former Congress legislator Hajong along with thousands of his supporters joined NPP on Wednesday.
In a statement issued here on Wednesday, NPP spokesperson James Sangma said that it was a major boost for the party that Hajong, a senior Congress leader from Mahendraganj, had joined NPP.
Hajong joined the party in the  presence of the NPP National President, PA Sangma and State president Dr. WR Kharlukhi.
Hajong had unsuccessfully contested the 2013 Assembly elections from Mahendraganj constituency on a Samajwadi Party ticket and secured over 4600 votes, losing to the Chief Minister’s wife.
Hajong said that he believed in the leadership of PA Sangma and felt that keeping the current situation of Meghalaya in mind, specifically the deteriorating law and order situation in Garo Hills, Sangma’s leadership was absolutely essential to save and revive the State and the region.
Hajong had contested and won the Mahendraganj seat on an NCP ticket in 2003 and later joined the Congress following a split in the NCP that same year. He again contested the election in 2008, this time as an Independent, but failed to retain his seat.