The upcoming Gambegre by-election will be a two-horse race between the National People’s Party (NPP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
This was the opinion of NPP member and cabinet minister Rakkam A Sangma, who spoke on the issue today.
Both parties have declared their candidates – Mehtab Chandee (Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s wife and party treasurer) for the NPP and Dengnakpara MDC Sadhiarani Sangma for the TMC. The state Congress Party has also declared its candidate, Jingjang M Marak, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to run as well.
Exuding confidence in his party’s prospects, Rakkam Sangma today cited the enthusiastic response from local communities during campaigning.
Asked about the Congress, particularly since Gambegre was previously represented by Saleng Sangma, who had to resign from the Assembly after he won the Tura Lok Sabha seat, Rakkam dismissed the Congress’s relevance. The opposition party had suffered a recent blow when three of its four remaining MLAs defected to the NPP and the organisation is weak and in disarray, according to Rakkam.
“Congress does not have a future and with the NPP gaining strength we have a better edge over other parties in winning the Gambegre by-election,” he added.
He also stated that Saleng’s thumping win was with the help of the BJP (although that party officially backed the NPP candidate in the parliamentary polls) and that the Congress won “by chance”.
