Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee working president Deborah Marak today expressed confidence that her party’s candidate, Saleng A Sangma MLA, will defeat the sitting Tura MP Agatha K Sangma once the results of the general election are announced on June 4.
Agatha, of the National People’s Party (NPP), is seeking a fourth term but the voters want change, Deborah said.
The Tura seat has been safely in the hands of Agatha’s family, with her brother and father holding it in years gone by.
The NPP is reportedly concerned about how it performed in the seat, with senior party leaders saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decision to back Agatha may have backfired among Christian voters.
Deborah was at the forefront of Saleng’s campaign in Garo Hills. Concerning the NPP’s allegations that the Congress misled the people and church leaders, she said that the party does not have that much power to misguide church leaders and that the people of Garo Hills are not blind.
Instead, Deborah said that there are many reasons for the people to have been disgusted with the NPP.
“It can be due to scams like the Jal Jeevan Mission where it (the NPP-led state government) has failed miserably. I urge the central government to inspect it thoroughly and it must send a central agency to conduct an inquiry into it.” the former cabinet minister said. “There are other scams like illegal smuggling of sugar being taken to Bangladesh and also areca nut, which is brought in illegally from Myanmar. It has left Garo Hills’ farmers suffering. The economic condition in Garo Hills is very bad.”
There is a public perception that corruption in Meghalaya goes right to the very top, robbing the people of public money that should be used for their benefit, Deborah added. “These kinds of incidents have given enough proof to the people. Congress has done very well during this election. We will wait and see on counting day,” she said.