Supporters blame leadership for submitting to NPP demands
TURA: Supporters and party workers of the BJP are miffed with the party leadership in the State for throwing away a potential MDC seat from the all important Tura GHADC constituency that goes to polls on October 12.
Two potential candidates for the party – former MDC and MLA Billykid A Sangma and chairman of the disbanded militant outfit ANVC-B Bernard Marak – were denied the party ticket allegedly to appease the NPP of P.A. Sangma which is a coalition of the NDA government at the centre and has put up a candidate for Tura constituency.
Party sources reveal that Bernard Marak filed his nomination as an Independent candidate over denial of the BJP ticket. It was left to former MLA of Tura and a strong contender Billykid Sangma who until the last minute was assured a party ticket only to find his name missing by the time the deadline approached on September 21.
The BJP which has had a substantial vote share in Tura for over 20 long years since they began fielding candidates in Garo Hills will be absent from the political battlefield this time round.
Angry supporters of the party have blamed the BJP leadership in the State, particularly state president Khlur Sing Lyngdoh and general secretary Dipayan Chakraborty, for literally throwing away potential winning seats to suit its junior partner in Delhi (NPP) that is calling the shots in Garo Hills.
The NPP has fielded former veterinary officer Dr. H. Jimmy Momin from Tura. He is pitted against several candidates including former deputy commissioner Arlene Maine N Sangma, Dulal Sangma of the Congress and Independent Rupert Marak, among others.