Shillong, Dec 20: After a disputed election process, which led to a postponement, was ultimately resolved, the election to the new Apex Council of the Meghalaya Cricket Association was held yesterday where politician and former minister James PK Sangma was elected as the new President of the MCA.
James Sangma takes over from Nababrata Bhattacharjee. He also follows on from his younger brother Conrad (now Chief Minister of Meghalaya), who was MCA President until 2019.
Representing Tura District Cricket Association, James Sangma faced two challengers -Sengnab Momin of North Garo Hills District Cricket Association and Arwotki Sumer of West Jaintia Hills District Cricket Association. The winning margin is not known.
Only one other post was contested, that of Honorary Treasurer. Eddystone Shylla of WJDCA won out over Dister Marbaniang of the East Khasi Hills Cricket Association. The incumbent, Dhrubajyoti Thakuria, was not in contention as he is subject to a cooling off period after serving two consecutive terms.
All the other candidates were elected unopposed to the posts they were running for – Rayonald Kharkamni (Ri-Bhoi DCA) returns as Honorary Secretary, Mebanphira Swer (West Khasi Hills DCA) as Honorary Joint Secretary, Rajiv Bareh (East Jaintia Hills DCA) and Chuba R Marak (South Garo Hills DCA) as Vice-President and Apex Council Member respectively.
The elections were meant to be held on December 9 but were postponed after a challenge by the Shillong Cricket Association as to the electoral process. However, Justice HS Thangkhiew on December 16 ruled that it would not interfere in the matter further as the court was satisfied that there were grievance redressal mechanisms available to the SCA.
The SCA’s objections to the process were four-fold, namely that voter identities were suppressed, the objection window and campaign window was unacceptably short, the venue for the election unclear and publication of the final electoral roll delayed. It also questioned the suitability of the Electoral Officer.
