SHILLONG: The state Congress is confident of its candidate and sitting MP Vincent Pala winning the Shillong seat for the third consecutive term as there is “no opponent,” and former chief minister Mukul Sangma winning from Tura.
But so is the NPP.
Elections to the two Lok Sabha seats will be held on April 11.
Speaking to media persons here on Wednesday, Congress spokesperson HM Shangpliang said, “ In the Shillong seat, Vincent Pala will be victorious as we don’t see any opponent.”
He claimed that many from the UDP and NPP are willing to support the Congress candidate over the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
“ They are supporting us because they believe that there is no point sending anyone else to Delhi since they will again join the bandwagon of the BJP,” he said, adding it is only the Congress which has opposed and stood firm against the CAB and that is the reason why Vincent Pala is the popular choice.
Claiming that Congress had a huge role to play in the fight against the controversial CAB, which the BJP is hell bent on enacting as law, he said the party’s thrust will primarily be on connectivity and education.
“ Our candidate is banking more on road connectivity and has promised to take up the issue besides uplifting the standard of education and health,” he said.
As for the Tura seat where Mukul Sangma is taking on NPP’s Agatha Sangma, he said that the party is doing very well and many BJP leaders like Santosh Marak and Edmund Sangma have already joined the party.
“Day by day Mukul Sangma is inching towards victory and he is really doing well and we are sure we will come out victorious,” Shangpliang added.
The seat has been lying vacant ever since then MP Conrad Sangma resigned to contest in the by-election to the South Tura Assembly seat vacated by Agatha Sangma in 2018.
However, NPP state president WR Kharlukhi is brimming with confidence over his party’s chances and is certain that it will be able to defeat both Congress and BJP in the two seats.
Distancing NPP from the BJP, he told reporters that the party is very clear in
its stand and will go against both the saffron party and the Congress when it comes to the issues of tribals and the indigenous population of the state and the region.
He said the party was well prepared for the by-election to the Selsella Assembly seat , too. The by-election will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
He also ruled out any sympathy factor playing a role in Selsella, saying there was none even in Williamnagar when the wife of Late Johnathone Sangma contested and lost the by-election to the seat last year.
The Selsella seat fell vacant after the sitting Congress MLA Clement Marak passed away on October 8 last year. His wife June Marak is contesting from the seat on a Congress ticket.
Selsella, too, is headed for a multi-cornered fight among Congress, NPP and BJP.
