TURA: The Congress returned to power in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) with a decisive victory of its candidate in the election for the post of Chief Executive Member on Tuesday.
Rebel National People’s Party MDC Boston Marak, who defected to the Congress camp three months ago, defeated NPP’s Sukaram K Sangma by a margin of six votes after one of the MDCs from the NPP alliance cross-voted.
The day started with high drama that witnessed backroom manoeuvres in the run-up to the election by secret ballot.
The NPP’s attempt at breaking the Congress numbers and reducing it to a minority
by seeking suspension of voting rights of five defectors was turned down by none other than its party MDC and deputy chairman who conducted the election.
The five MDCs whom NPP accused of creating instability were Garo National Council (GNC) members Wennison Ch Marak and Jimberth Goera R Marak, Congress MDCs Ismail Marak and Dhormonath Sangma who joined BJP, and Independent Righteous Sangma who also joined the saffron party.
“These five MDCs had frequently shifted allegiance leading to instability in the GHADC. We had sought the suspension of their voting rights and the power to do so was with the deputy chairman, but he rejected it,” a shocked Denang T Sangma said.
The rejection of the petition by the deputy chairman appeared to have sealed the fate of NPP.
Out of the 29 MDCs present in the House, the Congress had 16 members and the NPP alliance had 13 on its side.
The NPP alliance was reduced to 12 members because the election was conducted by Deputy Chairman of the GHADC and NPP member from Darugre, Mettrinson G Momin.
If the five MDCs were suspended, the Congress alliance would have been reduced to 11 members and the NPP alliance would have sailed through with their 13 MDCs, including the deputy chairman who is eligible to vote in the eventuality of a tie.
BJP cried foul over the decision of the deputy chairman. “Two of them, Righteous Sangma and Ismail Marak, had defected from the Congress and joined BJP by taking membership in the party. So how can it be justified for them to be allowed to vote? We wanted the deputy chairman to clarify the matter with the governor before allowing them to vote,” said BJP MDC Sofiur Rahman.
But more jolts were in store for the NPP alliance with one of its unidentified members cross-voting in favour of the Congress candidate. Boston garnered 17 votes against NPP’s 11.
Sukaram and former CEM Denang T Sangma congratulated Boston assuring support from the opposition benches for smooth running of the District Council.
“We knew the numbers were staked against us but in the true spirit of democracy we accepted the contest. The Council has been under administrator’s rule for three months and with this election we hope normal functioning will be restored,” said Sukaram.
The newly elected CEM, in his first speech, appealed to all to work together in ensuring a smooth governance of the second oldest autonomous body in the State.
“We must work unitedly and issues on party lines should not take precedence in the smooth functioning of the District Council. We must ensure we work like an all-party government,” said Boston.
The Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) congratulated Boston on his victory.
“This has shown the confidence of his peers in his leadership. The cross-voting from the NPP/BJP camp further shows lack of faith in the current leadership of their alliance, which include the Kongkal brothers who had been meddling in the District Council affairs during the tenure of the previous Executive Committee led by Denang T Sangma. It looks like NPP’s highhandedness is finally taking its toll,” MPYC president Richard M Marak said in a statement.
Boston, son of late PA Sangma’s elder brother, was the GHADC chairman when he defected to the Congress camp triggering a crisis in the autonomous council.
He was later expelled from NPP but emerged as the Congress candidate for the CEM’s position.