TURA: With hectic campaigns and vigorous appeals to the people by concerned parties over and done with, polling for the prestigious 53-Ampati (ST) constituency will take place tomorrow to decide the fate of all three candidates who are contesting the seat.
There are a total of 24,181 voters from the constituency on whom the dreams and aspirations of all three candidates will depend.
Elections to the constituency was necessitated after former chief minister, Mukul Sangma won both Ampati and Songsak in the recently held February 27 assembly elections, and later vacated Ampati.
The election in Ampati will be a triangular contest between the Congress’ Miani D Shira (Mukul Sangma’s daughter), National People’s Party (NPP)’s Clement G Momin and lone independent candidate, Subhankar Koch.
While the NPP is banking on the ‘ruling party factor’ to win over the people, Ampati has been known as the strong hold of the Congress under former chief Minister, Mukul Sangma who won the seat for the sixth consecutive time before vacating it for Songsak.
However, the decision to field his own daughter, Miani D Shira, who is a ‘greenhorn’ by Mukul Sangma, is also likely to affect the prospects of the Congress party as some sections of the people had expressed resentment over the move. According to them, a better candidate from among party leaders, who is far more experienced, could have been chosen to contest the seat.
The NPP on the other hand is confident that the people of Ampati will vote in their favour as they feel that the Congress in Garo Hills under Mukul Sangma is on its last legs. Fueled by the recent victory in Williamnagar in which party candidate, Marcuise Marak defeated the then sitting MLA, Deborah C Marak by a huge margin, the NPP is of the view that the same will happen in Ampati.
Whatever the outcome, the poll battle is likely to be between Congress’ Miani and NPP’s Clement. Lone independent candidate, Subhankar Koch is likely to draw some votes from both parties. However, that is unlikely to have any significant impact on the results.
As of now, whether the candidates have done enough to win over the people is a question that cannot be answered just yet. The candidates will have to sit and wait for the voters to do their part and hope with fingers crossed that they are elected when counting day comes on May 31.