TURA/ SHILLONG: Today is voting day! Will it be making of a history or keeping a legacy?
The 6,23,426 voters from five districts of Garo Hills will give their verdict through the ballot on the political fate of Dikkanchi D. Shira of the Congress and the NPP’s Conrad K. Sangma.
Polls open from 7 AM and will continue till 4 PM.
The Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Kharkongor said all arrangements have been made to conduct a free and fair election on Monday.
All the polling personnel have already arrived at their respective polling stations and the security personnel are also on guard to ensure a peaceful poll.
A senior police official said that the recent surrender of many militants have provided a conducive atmosphere to hold the polls without any law and order problem.
The Chief Electoral Officer hoped that with the various initiatives taken by the election department coupled with improved law and order situation, there will be better turn out of voters compared to the past.
The last 2014 polls saw 78.14 per cent voters’ turn out for Tura Lok Sabha seat.
There was rainfall for the last few days, and as a precaution, polythene and plastic sheets were provided to the polling personnel to cover the EVMs in case of rain.
The election will also have a binding on the legacy of P.A. Sangma, whom the people of Garo Hills returned to Parliament for nine consecutive times, never to lose a single election.
This election has not centered solely on P.A. Sangma. It is also a litmus test on the leadership of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma whose supporters believe is the next ‘undisputed’ leader from Garo Hills though his critics wish to prove that statement wrong.
Despite belonging to rival parties, both are similar in the sense that be it Conrad or Dikkanchi it is their first race for Delhi.
Dikkanchi wishes to make history by breaking traditional bastions held by (L) P.A. Sangma for more than forty long years while Conrad carries on his shoulders the albatross of a profound legacy, that of his late father.
For Conrad, this time round, the personal is political as he vies to win the seat and keep his father’s dreams alive.
For Dikkanchi, this is a never-before-come opportunity to show her mettle and prove her detractors wrong – that she is a woman with a mind of her own.
This is also an election where the youth will play a decisive factor on voting day.
There are a whopping 3,46,242 voters in the age group of 18 to 35 years in this election. On which side the youth vote will swing is anybody’s guess.
Also, the male voters overshadow the females in this election. There are 3,15,999 male voters against 3,07,427 female voters.
Out of 945 polling stations, 410 are hypersensitive of which 317 is due to militant activity.
The highest number of voters is at Rongrenggre polling station of Williamnagar while Nengsrang Adugre (Williamnagar) has the lowest number of 89 voters.
Two completely different regions in Garo Hills will play an important role on polling day. The minority dominated plain belt region of West and South West Garo Hills – Mahendraganj, Rajabala and Phulbari – have always witnessed huge turnouts of the electorate on voting day.
The hill areas of East, South and North Garo Hills – Resubelpara, Mendipathar, Kharkutta, Bajengdoba, Siju-Rongara, Baghmara, Rongjeng, Songsak, Williamnagar and Chokpot – have traditionally voted en-bloc and been the deciding factor in every parliamentary election for the Tura Lok Sabha seat.
But unpredictability is the only possibility, be it in nature or in the polls.
Whether this election turns out to be a psephologist’s delight or a challenge will be known on May 19 when results are declared.
TURA PArliamentary BY-ELECTIOn
Total electorate: 6,22,189
Male voters: 3,15,255
Female voters: 3,06,934
Total number of polling station: 945
Hyper sensitive polling station: 410
Sensitive polling station: 126
Normal polling station: 382
Security deployed: 12 companies of central forces
Largest constituency: Kharkutta (32574 voters)
Smallest constituency: Dalu (17264 voters)
Number of polling personnel: 3780