SHILLONG, Nov 3: The Congress on Wednesday alleged the NPP-led government misused state machinery against it during by-elections to the Rajabala seat.
“As far as Rajabala is concerned, the party in power misused the government machinery,” Congress leader, Mukul Sangma said while talking to The Shillong Times.
On the clash between NPP and Congress supporters on the last day of campaigning, he said irrespective of what might have caused the violence, it is the responsibility of the district administration and the police to find out the truth.
Sangma said Congress functionaries at various levels and its workers were hunted by the police after an FIR was lodged against the party. He alleged the police were misused to create an environment where people, in trying to evade arrest, left their home due to a fear psychosis.
“This amounts to manipulation to create a situation where the police can justify the action,” he said.
He said if the group clash was pre-planned by the workers of the Congress, so many of them would not have been injured.
“Who did that? The report of the Returning Officer is manipulated and this needs to be investigated. We will proceed with that,” Sangma said.
He alleged the clash was pre-planned by the NPP. “…It was a pre-planned move from their side. Create a clash, file an FIR against important Congress workers, go after them and raid their houses so that you can do whatever you like,” the leader of the Opposition said, adding, “It was a simple modus operandi. That is how I interpret the situation. I am a lawmaker and I know how people can commit crime.”
To ensure free and fair elections, the officers under the command of the Election Commission must act as per the law, he insisted.
Multiple factors behind defeat
The CLP leader said there are multiple factors behind the party’s bypoll debacle and the party will review and analyse the results.
“We would like to find out what exactly went wrong. We will do some postmortem to have some insight into the whole dynamics of the electoral process,” Dr Sangma told The Shillong Times without revealing further details.
Stating that the Congress hoped to win at least two seats, he said, “Of the three seats that went to polls, two were represented by our own Congress but unfortunately, we lost both.”
He congratulated the newly-elected candidates – two are new faces while one is a former MLA.
The leader of the Opposition said it is a good sign that people have always shown inclination towards electing young faces. “We accept the verdict of the people,” he said.
Asked if infighting is a factor behind the defeat, Sangma said, “I will not like to jump to conclusion but obviously, we did not expect this result.”
On NPP national president and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s statement that there were reports of a few Congress leaders actually campaigning for the UDP candidate in hill areas, the leader of the Opposition said, “That is something which is unfortunate. It is none of his business to even speak about it.”
“I don’t have any such information. He is just trying to create a narrative which revolves around Congress. This has been their usual trend of speaking or poking their nose into somebody else’s affairs,” Sangma said.
On the Congress’s charge that NPP indulged in money play, he said, “I think you should go to the constituencies and talk to the electorates. You can find out the truth. It will be appropriate for the media and civil society organisations, concerned about the welfare of the state, to find out the truth from ground zero.”
He continued: “People will tell you what is happening in ground zero and how this has scope of vitiating the socio-political environment of the state. It does not augur well for the people. It is everybody’s business to find out and see how you can insulate the state from that trend.”
Sangma also reacted to the buzz that he did not give his 100% during poll campaigning stating that people may have their opinions but as per the party’s programme, he went wherever he was supposed to go and addressed rallies.
Asked about the road ahead, he said, “We have our own mechanism and inherent strength within the party and we will use that. This defeat does not dampen us.”