Has Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his party NPP lost the confidence of the people of Garo Hills?
Going by the results of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) elections announced today, it appeared that Congress has regained its ground in many districts of Garo Hills except South Garo Hills.
The Congress improved its tally as compared to previous elections. It won 12 seats out of 29. In 2015, the grand old party had won only seven seats.
Today’s results showed that despite being in the opposition, the Congress is still a force to reckon with in Garo Hills.
The seats won by the Congress this time are Williamnagar, Boldamgre, Betasing, Amongpara, Kharkutta, Rongrong, Kharkutta, Samandagre, Dengnakpara, Shyamnagar, Batabari and Balachanda.
It may be noted that Conrad Sangma had spent almost a month in Garo Hills to campaign for his party and led a high-pitched campaign in all 29 constituencies to garner votes for his candidates.
However, when the results came out today, it proved that all his toil and sweat were in vain as NPP managed to clinch only 11 seats.
Interestingly, Sangma who was fond of updating the “success” of his poll campaign on his Twitter handle everyday and had even said that the GHADC elections would be an indicator of the trust of the people to his government.
However, when the results were out today, Sangma went silent as also his Twitter handle.
Many political observers said that the results showed that NPP has lost its favour among the electorates in Garo Hills amid the mess created by the party in the GHADC.
What had added to Conrad’s anxiety is that his party lost in his own constituency – Tura. BJP’s Bernard Marak won from the seat.
It may be noted that Marak was a vocal critic of Conrad and the NPP and had even in the past made several allegations against the NPP.
Another worry for the NPP is that incumbent GHADC Chief Executive Member (CEM) Denang T. Sangma tasted defeat in Williamnagar. He lost the seat to Congress’ Alphonsush R. Marak.
Former GHADC CEM and NPP candidate Dipul Marak lost the Rochonpara seat to independent candidate Albinstone Marak.
Nearly 70 per cent voter turnout was recorded in elections to the 29-member GHADC in Meghalaya on April 12.
There were a total of 182 candidates in the fray. The Congress and the NPP fielded their candidates on all 29 seats, BJP in 20 seats and UDP in 15 seats.
