SHILLONG, June 11: After the setback in the Tura seat in the Lok Sabha elections, the National People’s Party (NPP) has decided to go the extra mile to consolidate its vote base.
A large number of voters, who usually vote for the NPP, shifted to the Congress in Tura leading to Saleng Sangma’s historic win over sitting MP Agatha Sangma of the NPP.
NPP leader Timothy D Shira admitted this switchover. He said the party would not have lost the seat if these voters had not shifted to the Congress.
“We will do anything and everything to bring them back to the NPP,” he said.
Saleng had bagged more votes than Agatha in Shira’s Resubelpara constituency. But Shira said the Congress candidate won in a majority of the Assembly constituencies, including that of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.
Asked about the factors responsible for the NPP’s downfall, he said as the BJP did not contest the polls, there was a suspicion among the voters that the NPP has joined the saffron party.
“People did not understand the difference between alliance and joining the party,” he said, but refused to admit this was a verdict against the state government.
Saleng had defeated Agatha by 1,55,241 votes. He secured 3,83,919 votes as against 2,28,678 polled by Agatha.
