TURA, March 4: The Congress in Meghalaya has never witnessed such a tragedy as has been in the last three years when it lost three sitting legislators at the prime of their career.
Senior Congress legislator from Selsella, Clement R Marak, who won his third electoral battle in 2018, passed away a few months later after a long battle with cancer.
In February last month, a young David Nongrum, a two-time Congress legislator from Mawryngkneng in East Khasi Hills had his life abruptly ended when he suffered a massive cardiac arrest at his home.
On Thursday, another young Congress leader, Dr Azad Zaman, breathed his last following a similar health problem.
With the death of the three Congress legislators, the party position in the state assembly has been drastically reduced.
The Congress emerged the single largest party with 21 seats in the 2018 assembly polls, but fell short of the halfway mark of 30.
Coming close on its heels was the opposition NPP with 19 seats.
The tables were turned when the NPP went on to win the Williamnagar and the Selsella bypolls, necessitated by the death of Clement Marak, while the Congress also lost the Ranikor by-election to the UDP after its sitting legislator Martin Danggo quit to join the NPP only to see the seat slip away to the UDP’s Pius Marwein.
The NPP currently has 21 legislators against 17 members of the Congress.
All eyes will now be on the by-elections to Mawryngkneng and Rajabala seats, once the Election Commission announces the dates before the six-month deadline.