TMC undecided on contesting Gambegre bypoll

SHILLONG, July 21: The Trinamool Congress has gone quiet about the Gambegre by-polls with the state unit yet to hold a meeting on the issue and the party’s central leadership appearing uninterested.
“We have not received any instructions from the party headquarters. We do not know when the state unit will call a meeting but it depends on the probable date of declaring the date for the by-election,” state TMC chief, Charles Pyngrope said.
Asked about the names of a few probable TMC candidates doing the rounds, he said: “Nobody has come forward yet. I have also heard (speculations) but we can declare the name of a candidate after we get the clearance from the headquarters.”
He was evasive about the possibility of the party contesting the Gambegre seat. “We have a relatively strong presence in the Garo Hills. Whether we are going to field a candidate or not is a decision that the state alone cannot take,” he said.
The Gambegre seat fell vacant after the resignation of Congress MLA Saleng A Sangma on June 10 following his election to the Lok Sabha from the Tura parliamentary seat.
According to reports, the TMC is likely to field former MLA Zenith Sangma’s wife Sadhiarani M Sangma for the bypoll given that she contested the seat twice in the past and lost by a small margin.
Sadhiarani is the sitting GHADC MDC from the Dengnakpara constituency. She lost the 2023 Assembly election from Gambegre to Saleng A Sangma by a margin of 2,871 votes.