Sangma is Cong star in N-E

SHILLONG, Jan 13: Sonia Gandhi might have hit the campaign trail, invigorating scores of party workers across the country. But in Meghalaya,...

SHILLONG, Jan 13: Sonia Gandhi might have hit the campaign trail, invigorating scores of party workers across the country. But in Meghalaya, it is Lok Sabha speaker Purno A Sangma the Congress party will be falling back on, to boost its electoral fortunes during the Assembly elections here, to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls on February 16.

Assembly elections in Meghalaya were originally scheduled for early February. But with the dissolution of Lok Sabha they are now being held along with the Parliamentary polls. The dissolution of the Lok Sabha has come as a blessing in disguise for the Congress in Meghalaya — at its wits’ end trying to figure out whom to rope in for its Assembly election campaign — since it leaves Sangma free to do his bit for the party.

Devoid of any charismatic Congress leader, Sangma will no doubt have a hectic election schedule, campaigning for himself and for the Congress candidates.

Speaking to The Indian Express a few days back, Rajya Sabha member and Meghalaya Congress president C L Nongtdu made no bones about the fact that the party would bank on Sangma to salvage its falling stock. With Sangma as its star campaigner, the Congress is confident of winning enough Assembly seats to cobble together a Congress-led coalition government.

Of the 60 Assembly seats in Meghalaya, 24 are from the Garo hills and the rest from Khasi, Jaintia and Ri-Bhoi districts. The Congress is confident of bagging the maximum seats from Garo hills — a massive support base for Sangma. Although the area has been a Congress bastion, the party’s image took a beating after the multi-crore Chimanbangshi forest scam. The scam made headlines and forced the Congress-led coalition government of Chief Minister S C Marak to institute a commission of inquiry. The findings of the Rangan Dutta commission indicted A C Marak, Forest Minister and Congress leader from Garo hills as also some forest officials for their role in the scam.

Non-Congress parties are likely to make corruption in the Congress-led coalition government one of the election issues and will find the Chimanbangshi forest scam handy for the purpose.

It now remains to be seen whether Sangma, with his star appeal, can blunt the charges enough to redeem the party.

Trouble in Manipur too

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Hectic efforts were on among five constituents of the ruling United Front Manipur to field common candidates in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and bye-elections to five assembly constituencies in the state, front sources said on Tuesday. The final decision, however, would be taken in tomorrow’s core committee meeting of the ruling front, the sources said. The constituents had earlier expressed their desire to put up own candidates.

But as that would result in the division of votes ultimately benefitting the Congress, they decided to try to put up common candidates.

A senior CPI leader said that the party would work towards defeating the Congress. The leader, who did not wish to be named, said that the working president of the Manipur state Congress, Th. Chaoba’s statement that since the MSC was a new party it needed to put up candidates for recognition by the Election Commission did not hold water.