SHILLONG: The victory of BJP-led NDA at the Centre is good news for the MDA alliance in the state, but there is cause for worry for the Congress.
There was expectation among Congress leaders and members that the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, Mukul Sangma, would win the Tura Lok Sabha seat, but it was belied as he lost to NPP’s Agatha Sangma.
The party suffered the second blow when it also lost the Selsella Assembly seat to NPP in the by-election held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.
The by-poll in Selsella was necessitated following the death of sitting Congress legislator Clement Marak last year.
Though Clement’s wife June Marak contested the election, NPP candidate Ferlin Sangma secured the seat.
With this defeat the Congress now has 19 seats in the Assembly against NPP’s 21.
Congress sources said the’double defeat’ in Garo Hills was unexpected as the party was hoping for a revival following the 2018 Assembly polls defeat.
Though the Congress emerged as single largest party after 2018 polls, it could not form the
government since NPP and other coalition partners stitched an alliance.
Sources said there were already murmurs in the state Congress after the party could not form the government and the differences are likely to grow following the twin defeats in Garo Hills.
When asked about the future of Congress in the state, the party leader Vincent Pala, who was elected from Shillong parliamentary seat for the third- term, said it is too early to comment about the differences within the party.
“We will have to meet and discuss to assess the election results”, Pala said.
He also refused to comment when asked whether there is any plan to have a change of leadership in the CLP.
Soul-searching
The Congress will do a post mortem of the party’s poor performance in the Northeastern states.
Congress spokesperson Zenith Sangma said that the party will sit and do a post mortem of what went wrong and will decide what is to be done in future.
