All eyes on South Tura as militant-turned-BJP leader battles for honour against CM Sangma

For the militant-turned-politician, Marak, the stakes are even higher than that. For it has also become a personal battle to “redeem” his “honour” after being jailed last year for allegedly running a brothel in his farm house on the outskirts of Tura town. He is now out on bail.

“For months in jail, that is what lit the fire,” the 47-year-old soft-spoken Marak told The Indian Express, even as many people thronged his office to meet him.

Marak’s arrest in the alleged “sex racket” in July 2022 brought the already-strained relationship between the NPP and BJP to a flashpoint, with the latter alleging that CM Sangma was settling personal scores by targeting him. “It was a political conspiracy to malign me, the BJP high command saw through it and sided with me,” said Marak.

Sangma has, however, maintained that the police acted “as per law”. “There had been multiple complaints about the location Bernard (Marak) was running. The police acted as per law. In that entire case, there was not even a single time when I called a meeting, or even called the district police to see what was happening. I just did not want to interfere with the process. But in spite of that, people still blame me,” the CM recently told The Indian Express in an interview.

In its election campaign, the BJP has made Marak’s “unlawful” arrest a key issue with its several senior leaders going after the NPP over it. Upping the ante, the two parties have also engaged in some strident muscle-flexing days ahead of the polling day.

Last week, the South Tura battle flared up, when the BJP accused the NPP of allegedly denying permission to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rally at the P A Sangma Stadium in the town. Modi finally held his rally in another stadium in Tura Friday, where he told the gathering: “Many people did not want this rally to happen… But they could not keep me away from the people of Meghalaya.”

With the BJP top brass campaigning for him, Marak may have emerged as a formidable challenger to Sangma. Many people in Tura, the largest town in the Garo Hills, insist that “It is going to be a fight”. One reason for it, said

a 30-year-old lawyer Michelle Sangma, is that “people were feeling pity” for Marak. “Everyone saw through that arrest… there is going to be a sympathy vote,” she said.

Besides, Marak’s stint as an elected member of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council — one of the three autonomous district councils under the Sixth Schedule in Meghalaya — has added to his popularity. “He works at the grassroots. As an MDC, he started raising his voice against the Sangma siblings (CM Conrad, Agatha and James). That is why they tried to do away with him but it backfired,” said Wilbert Sangma, a BJP worker in Tura.

Locals in Tura say that Marak would come “at least once a week” and speak out against the NPP and its alleged scams. “That is when he started getting popular – even before the arrest… And he was working on the ground,” said Sanjay Bhowmik, a wholesale trader in Tura market.

The constituency’s demographic may work in Marak’s favour to a degree: Tura is also home to a sizeable non-tribal Hindu population which, political observers say, are likely to rally around the BJP.

Observers however say that it is not an easy task to challenge the dominance of a sitting chief minister in his constituency, especially Conrad, the son of late PA Sangma — who had been perhaps Meghalaya’s most feted politician ever.

Many locals point to Conrad’s “significant work” in Tura over the last five years. “Conrad has done a lot of work in his home consistency, colleges have been set up, stadiums have been renovated,” said a professor in Tura. An NPP insider added: “Ultimately, the BJP would not want Conrad to lose – it is usually a fractured mandate in Meghalaya, and the NPP is the BJP’s most natural ally if they want to be part of the government… It is unlikely the BJP will ally with either the TMC or the Congress.”

Sangma, however, said he did not take any of his opponents “lightly”, including Marak. “I have worked very hard in my constituency and people have seen the difference we have made,” he said.