The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is hoping to oust Sanbor Shullai of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in South Shillong, with its candidate Ian Lyngdoh Nongkynrih claiming that the sitting MLA is facing a wave of anti-incumbency feeling.
Shullai won the 2018 election by a margin of more than 5,000 votes, beating out all his opponents combined. This year even the National People’s Party (NPP) has decided not to contest against him.
“I don’t know why people consider him to be very strong,” Nongkynrih said. “On the ground there is huge anti-incumbency. People want change, especially the vulnerable sections of the population.”
When asked about the TMC’s muted presence in South Shillong, he snapped, “We are sorry if you are talking about visibility by replacing policies with advertisements and hoardings. We are into policies, we are into schemes. We have schemes like the MYE (for youth employment) card and WE (women’s empowerment) card, which are schemes for the vulnerable sections of the population, including the unemployed and the underemployed. We don’t need visibility for the people who know us.”
