After Tura, Cong eyes Gambegre

SHILLONG, July 28: The Meghalaya unit of Congress on Sunday said it holds an edge in Gambegre although the ruling dispensation has the state machinery behind it.
The Gambegre Assembly constituency fell vacant after its Congress representative, Saleng Sangma won the Tura Lok Sabha seat. Campaigning for the bye-election to the constituency is gaining momentum although the date of polling has not been announced yet.
MPCC president, Vincent H Pala said the National People’s Party is expected to use the state machinery to bag Gambegre but Congress, fresh from the Lok Sabha victory, could ride the mood of the voters in the Garo Hills.
“Looking at the way things are, we hold an edge,” he said, insisting Sangma’s elevation to Parliament did not make the leaders and members of the party complacent.
“Winning Tura was huge for us but we still have to work hard to retain Gambegre. Our groundwork has already started,” Pala said.
He said the party sought applications from probable candidates. “Saleng is in Delhi. We will sit after the budget session (of Parliament) and do what is necessary,” he added.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had advised the state leaders to maintain the momentum of the party’s victory in Tura for the district council polls and the Assembly elections in 2028 apart from the by-election.
The MPCC has also invited the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha and former Congress president, Rahul Gandhi, to be their star campaigner for the upcoming bye-election.
The NPP, on the other hand, believes it has a chance to wrest Gambegre from Congress owing to the voters’ disappointment with Sangma.
The NPP’s working president, Marcuise Marak indicated that the Lok Sabha win helped Sangma escape the anti-incumbency factor in Gambegre. “We have started the campaign. We are trying to go for a consensus candidate,” he said.
Marak said the people of Gambegre have told the NPP that they want to support the party in power in the state so that the constituency does not lag in development.
The NPP’s state committee has recommended the name of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s wife Mehtab Chandee as the party candidate for the Gambegre bypoll.