From Our Correspondent
TURA, Oct 24: With the Congress, NPP, and BJP nominees filing their nomination papers for the bypoll to the Gambegre Assembly constituency on Thursday, the stage is set for a four-way contest among NPP’s Mehtab Chandee A Sangma, TMC’s Sadhiarani M Sangma, BJP’s Bernard N Marak and Congress candidate Jingjang M Marak.
Also in fray are two independent candidates – Jerry A Sangma and Sengkrabirth M Marak.
Sengkrabirth was the first candidate to file his nomination on Tuesday.
Sadhiarani and Jerry filed their nominations on Wednesday.
The first to complete the formality on Thursday was Congress candidate Jingjang, who was accompanied by former minister Deborah C Marak and other party leaders and supporters. Saleng A Sangma, who vacated Gambegre to become the Tura MP, has been helming the campaign to boost the party’s chances.
NPP candidate Mehtab, accompanied by her husband and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and her mother-in-law Soradini K Sangma, was the next to file her papers.
The party, which has a simple majority in the 59-member Assembly and enjoys an edge for being in governance, seeks to add to its tally of 31 seats.
The last to file the nomination papers was the BJP’s Bernard, who came with a large number of supporters to the West Garo Hills DC’s office in the afternoon.
Candidates speak
Interacting with the media after filing her nomination, Mehtab Chandee, who is making her electoral debut, said she would do her best to win the seat riding a surge of support for the NPP.
“I feel there is a slight difference in normal elections and by-elections as people are already aware of who are in governance and who would best benefit them,” she said.
She felt a lot needed to be done for the people of Gambegre with roads at the top of the list.
“As a doctor, I will look into the health sector along with other social sectors. The priority, however, would be on roads, bridges, and electricity in many places,” she said.
She admitted countering the influence of Saleng Sangma, who has been the local MLA for several terms, would be a major challenge. “I feel the fight will be among the NPP, TMC, and Congress,” she said.
Jingjang Marak was confident that Congress would retain Gambegre. “If elected, I will finish the works left undone,” he said.
“There is no pressure. I have my goals and they (rivals) have their goals and we will achieve them. Just watch, Congress will win,” he said.
When asked about the claims by a section of the people that there was no development during Saleng Sangma’s tenure as an MLA, Marak said there will always be claims from people no matter what is achieved.
“Human wants are unlimited, so there will be allegations even if you do everything. Many places where I toured with Saleng Sangma on foot now have roads where vehicles ply. He facilitated these roads but there are still complaints. What can I say about this?” he asked.
Bernard Marak said the BJP has been concerned about the issues affecting the people of the constituency, whether or not there are elections around.
“We try to find out if the government schemes are reaching the people without any bias. Every deserving person should get the schemes. While touring Gambegre during the floods, we saw many people did not have proper homes and those who lost their houses did not have BPL cards. This has prompted us to work harder for the elections. We will not leave anyone from Gambegre behind and we aim to ensure all beneficiaries receive what is due to them,” he said.
“Here they do not have the basic needs that should have been provided by the government. Despite the central initiatives and so much funds given to the state, the poor people remain poor and that’s why we are confident that the grassroots people will prefer the BJP,” he said.
The Tura MDC said the central schemes are implemented in the Garo Hills only on paper.
“My fight will be to ensure that the rural folk get the benefits provided by the Centre,” he said.