TURA: Attempts by political parties to woo voters ahead of the electoral battle for the 29 seats of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) scheduled on October 12 is turning out to be a herculean task even for veteran State politicians.
A recent election meeting of NPP chief and Lok Sabha member from Tura, Purno A Sangma, was disrupted by protesters wielding black flags and banners, another election meeting of former Chief Minister and MPCC president D.D. Lapang failed to draw even a respectable crowd, and finally Chief Minister Mukul Sangma calling off a proposed campaign rally fearing a fate akin to his bête noire Purno Sangma.
Congress sources on Thursday revealed that the party had initially planned to hold the election rally by the chief minister on Tuesday which was postponed to Thursday. However, local party leaders with their ears to the ground appeared apprehensive after allegedly receiving inputs that some NGOs could be preparing to stage a protest which would have embarrassed the party and its leader.
Fearing a possible repeat of what took place in Dadenggre where the former Lok Sabha Speaker was greeted with black flags and banners by a group of NGOs for alleged unfulfilled promises made to the electorate, the Congress finally decided against holding the election rally at Williamnagar.
“There was apprehension that something similar in the lines of the Dadenggre episode could be played out at Williamnagar during the rally by the chief minister which could be an embarrassment to the party, so we decided against inviting him,” informed some Congress leaders from East Garo Hills.
The chief minister skipped Williamnagar and instead went on to campaign at Chi A’ding, Nangapa and Rongjeng on Thursday.
Social organizations and student bodies in East Garo Hills have been miffed with successive state governments for their failure to complete longstanding developmental projects in the district. The completion of the RCC bridge at Baiza, on the outskirts of Williamnagar town connecting the road to Tura, and more importantly the 31-year-old incomplete bridge over the Simsang river at Warima are some of the sore sights depicting the stagnation of development in the second most important town after Tura in Garo Hills.
Earlier on Tuesday, Meghalaya Congress chief and former Chief Minister D.D. Lapang who took part in a Congress election meeting at Tura market on Tuesday night failed to draw a crowd despite speaking for well over twenty minutes on the party’s developmental plank.
The seasoned leader spoke about the Congress government’s ‘achievements’ in Meghalaya and how it intended to bring further ‘development’ to the Garo Hills through the district council.
Appealing for support for the party candidate, Dulal Ch Sangma, Lapang said it was only the Congress that could provide stability and appealed to voters to repose faith in the oldest political party of the country.
Although the rally was organized by the party, many pinned the blame on local leaders for their failure to mobilize their supporters leading to the very low turnout on a busy market street in Tura and thereby embarrassing the ruling party.
