DALU, Feb 10: For Rogerbenny A Sangma, the Congress candidate from Dalu, the lack of a dynamic and educated leader has led to the constituency lagging behind in all sectors despite being on the ruling side of the government for the past decade.
In 2013, Kennethson Sangma won the Dalu seat on a Congress ticket before being toppled by NPP’s Brenning Sangma in 2018. However, despite them both being in the government, no progress, as per Roger, has been made.
Roger, who unsuccessfully contested from the North Tura seat twice, stated that as he married a girl from Dalu, as well as the fact that their society is matrilineal, he has been requested by the people of the area to contest.
“People of the area believe that Dalu requires a young, dynamic and educated leader to lead them towards progress. I got married in 2019 but have been frequenting Dalu since my childhood. In all these years, I have not seen too many changes, be it infrastructure, health sector, road connectivity, or education. This prompted me to try and get a mandate so that we can seek development for the people of the area,” said Roger on the reason for contesting from Dalu.
Talking of the impact of the defection by senior leaders like Mukul Sangma from the party, Roger stated that the Congress was not only the oldest party in the country, but preceded the birth of the former Congress leader late PA Sangma.
“When late PA Sangma left the party in 2004-05, people had predicted the downfall of the Congress. But we won the elections next time and formed the government. Likewise, after the departure of Mukul Sangma, people have once again predicted the same thing. We now have not only regrouped but are becoming stronger day by day,” he asserted.
On the progress report of the local MLA – NPP’s Brenning Sangma, Roger stated that despite the MLA being from the government side, he had failed in all aspects of governance.
“He brought no progress and failed in terms of infrastructure development and improvement in the health sector, education and even water supply. The situation has become such that we have to start from scratch. I am not against him on a personal level, but he has left most of the people disappointed,” felt the Congress leader.
Speaking on his odds, Roger stated that he was confident of a win due to the support he was getting from the people of the constituency.
