From Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Three weeks ahead of the highly anticipated Gambegre bypoll, BJP national president JP Nadda had a detailed discussion with state minister AL Hek on the party’s battle strategy and assured him of all support in Meghalaya.
By-elections will be held in 48 Assembly and two parliamentary constituencies in the country in November along with the state polls in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The BJP seeks to win most of these seats.
Hek informed Nadda that the BJP announced its list of main campaigners for the upcoming high-profile by-election. The party has been strengthening its outreach efforts in the tribal-dominated constituency, he said.
Hek told the party president that the BJP has focussed on mobilising voters and addressing the pressing local issues that resonate with the people at the grassroots level. He congratulated Nadda for the party’s success in the Haryana Assembly polls.
Bernard Marak, the BJP’s candidate for Gambegre, is locked in a four-cornered contest with ruling National People’s Party’s Mehtab Chandee A Sangma, the opposition TMC’s Sadhiarani Sangma and Jingjang M Marak of Congress. Two independents are also in the fray.
Mehtab is the wife of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and Sadhiaraini is the spouse of former cabinet minister Zenith Sangama and sister-in-law of former CM Mukul Sangma.
The bypoll in Gambegre, a Congress bastion, is crucial as all parties strive to gain ground in the Garo Hills region. While the NPP seeks to increase its seat count in the 60-member House from the current 31, the TMC wants to prove a point by winning a seat out of its comfort zone.
The BJP, on the other hand, is keen on opening its account in the Garo Hills but is wary of the low percentage of votes polled in the Assembly elections a year ago.
The TMC, Congress, and BJP had a poor showing in the 2023 Assembly elections, while the NPP, despite ruling the state, lost the Tura Lok Sabha seat to Congress. Saleng Sangma’s resignation as the Gambegre MLA after winning the Tura parliamentary seat necessitated the by-election.
Though divided and truncated, Congress hopes to ride on the success in the Tura Lok Sabha seat.
The votes for Gambegre will be counted on November 23, ten days after the bypolls.