SHILLONG: The state Congress is yet to reveal its cards as far as its candidate is concerned for the prestigious Tura Lok Sabha constituency, which has remained out of the party’s grip for years. Senior leader of the party, Ampareen Lyngdoh, feels that the CLP leader, Mukul Sangma, will be the best choice for the party in Tura seat.
Lyngdoh on Saturday said, “If Mukul Sangma is made the party candidate from Tura, it will be the best bet for the party to win the seat.”
Stating that the party should field its best candidate from Tura constituency, Lyngdoh added that the party so far has not taken any decision as far as fielding candidates for both the Shillong and Tura seats and it is currently giving forms to interested individuals who want to apply for tickets.
Prominent names are emerging from the Congress for the Lok Sabha election in Tura constituency and the race for ticket is getting more interesting.
Former Cabinet minister Deborah Marak, who lost the Williamnagar by-election last year, and Zenith Sangma have filed applications to contest from Tura.
It is also learnt that that there are many party workers and MLAs in the Congress who want Mukul to contest the Lok Sabha election from Tura.
The Congress’ margin of defeat has always been huge in Tura. However, Agatha Sangma’s winning margin was reduced to 17,945 when she contested against Deborah in 2009.
In 2004 and 2006, Purno Sangma’s nearest rival was CLP leader Mukul Sangma and the former had won with a huge margin.
In 2008, when Purno made his comeback to state politics, his daughter Agatha won the by-election by a margin of 99,856 votes defeating Zenith.
Apart from Tura, there is also a strong fight for the party ticket in Shillong with MP Vincent Pala looking to contest for the third consecutive time and former home minister HDR Lyngdoh joining the race.
