TURA: The fate of all four candidates of the South Tura By-poll, including that of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma will be known on Monday as counting of votes take place at the Extension Training Centre near the SMELC Building at Dakopgre in Tura.
A win in the election by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma will mean that he is able to remain the chief minister while losing would pose problems for the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government. The other candidates in the fray are Congress’ Charlotte W Momin and two independent candidates – former South Tura MLA, John Leslee K Sangma and Chis Kabul A Sangma.
While Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and the National People’s Party (NPP) along with its coalition are banking on the fact that the people will cast their vote to elect a permanent Chief Minister from the constituency, his opponents including the Congress in the run up to the polls had criticized Conrad for his statement on the state Education Policy and his proposal to issue work permits to Bangladeshis.
Even as Conrad tried to clarify his statement on education policy and work permit, his opponents had used the same issues to try and convince the voters to vote in their favour. With both sides having had their say, it is now just a matter of who has been more convincing that will decide the result of the election.
With votes already having been polled, the future of the state and the government will depend on how the people of South Tura have voted. Will Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma retain his post as the Head of the state, or will there be a change of government? The answer to this question will only be known once the counting of votes is completed.
The counting of votes will begin at 8 am.