It looks like the electoral battle for Gambegre constituency is going to be a fight between two spouses.
It may be mentioned that Gambegre seat fell vacant after the resignation of sitting Congress MLA Saleng A. Sangma on June 10 following his election as Lok Sabha MP from the Tura parliamentary seat.
However, the Election Commission has yet to announce the date for the by-poll. The by-election has to be held within six months and therefore it could be held sometime within this year.
According to sources, the ruling NPP has made up its mind to field Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s wife Mehtab Chandee Sangma as the candidate for the Gambegree by-election.
Similarly, the opposition Trinamool Congress is planning to nominate Sadhiarani M. Sangma, wife of former minister Zenith Sangma, for the by-poll.
For Mehtab Chandee Sangma who is a doctor by profession, this will be her first foray into electoral politics. She is currently the national treasurer of the NPP.
On the other hand, Sadhiarani is no longer a novice in politics given that she had contested from Gambegre seat twice in the past and lost by a small margin.
Sadhiarani who is the sitting MDC of Dengnakpara constituency had contested the 2023 Assembly election from Gambegre against Saleng Sangma and lost by a margin of 2,871 votes.
Saleng secured 11,252 votes as against Sadhiarani’s 8,381 votes. NPP’s Rakesh Sangma bagged only 7,628 votes.
