The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will definitely contest the Gambegre by-election, party MLA and cabinet minister Alexander Laloo Hek has assured.
The BJP absented itself from the Lok Sabha fray in Meghalaya, instead choosing to support the National People’s Party (NPP) but the two will go head-to-head to take the Gambegre seat, which became vacant after the previous holder, Saleng Sangma of the Congress Party, won the Tura parliamentary seat.
The saffron party has yet to make its decision on who to field but sitting Tura MDC Bernard N Marak is a strong contender. The BJP, though, performed dismally in the constituency at last year’s Assembly elections, with its candidate, Daniel M Sangma, picking up a mere 315 votes compared to Saleng’s 11,000-plus.
The NPP, also yet to confirm its choice, is likely to field Mehtab Chandee, the party’s treasurer and wife of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.
Speaking to reporters here today, Hek made it clear that the party is going to contest the polls even as he downplayed the challenge of Chandee, saying that every election is tough and the party will contest with full strength.
Asked how the BJP is going to win the by-poll, he said that the party’s chances of winning depend on the number of candidates who will be in the fray.
The party has not received any application from aspirants but Bernard, who is also the state BJP’s vice-president, is emerging as the probable candidate.
