Williamnagar: The feeling of election in the offing, which seemed to have dulled during the period of nominations, was rejuvenated this afternoon in the town of Williamnagar, with each candidate trying to outdo the other to show their support in numbers. It looked like a complete festival with vociferous voices that came along with their candidates, ringing like drums across the streets of the town.
A total of 11 candidates from the three constituencies in EGH filed their nominations while their supporters crowded the ground beside the deputy commissioner’s office. A total of 3 candidates for the BJP, Congress and TMC filed their nominations along with JD-U candidate, Robinus T Sangma and independent candidate, Rudreswar Ch Momin, both for the Williamnagar seat. All the candidates, along with the parties came along with a huge coterie of their supporters.
For the BJP, Raknang Ch Marak (Williamnagar), Thomas Marak (Songsak) and Raphius Sangma (Rongjeng) completed their nominations while Congress leader, Deborah Marak (Williamnagar), Champion Sangma (Songsak) and Jibing Sangma (Rongjeng) completed their nomination formalities. The TMC saw the nomination filing of former CM, Mukul Sangma (Songsak), Alphonsiush Marak (Williamnagar) and former MLA of Rongjeng, Sengnam Marak.
“This time the competition in Songsak will be between me and Nihim D Shira (the NPP candidate). Mukul Sangma will not matter,” said Champion while speaking to reporters after his nomination filing.
When asked about what ails his constituency, Champion blamed both Mukul and Nihim for the underdevelopment of the area.
“Nothing has been done for the past 15 years in terms of development and I am sure the people will choose me for the betterment of the place,” felt Champion.
Rudreshwar, the independent, whose supporters numbered in the thousands said he was working on the mandate of the people.
“I have received a lot of support from the people of Williamnagar since I started campaigning and today’s support just proves why I am confident of success in the upcoming election. My agenda for the election is the agenda that the people have provided to me and I will continue this way for the sake of the people of my constituency,” said Rudreshwar.
For Thomas Marak (BJP, Songsak), the state of Meghalaya has seen under-development despite the BJP government providing huge schemes for the state.
“People have understood that the negative propaganda against the BJP is completely wrong and we want to ensure that these programs reach the people of the state – without fail. I am confident that the work done for the poor of India during COVID is enough to show how much we are for the poor. We will get more than 30 seats in the coming elections and form the government,” said Thomas.
Akshay Rajkhowa, the BJP Assam spokesperson stated that they would form the next government come what may while adding that a star-studded line up of BJP leaders, including PM Narendra Modi, home minister, Amit Shah, Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma along with many others coming down to the election-bound state in the next week onwards.
Deborah Marak of the Congress asserted her confidence in winning the election while adding that the biggest threat would pose to be the NPP’s Marcuise Marak.
The Congress supporters numbered over 5-6 thousand, with their procession coming with chants for their leaders.
Last into the nomination hall were the TMC leaders who were supported by a sea of white TMC caps who literally had to be allowed more space due to the numbers as well as the presence of other party’s supporters. Their supporter numbers were the biggest of the day.
The last to come out of the nomination hall was TMC’s Williamnagar candidate, Alphonsiush to a round of rapturous applause. After a formal interview with the media fraternity, Mukul along with the supporters of the TMC moved to near the house of Alphonsiush where another meeting was held.
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“This is how elections are in Williamnagar. The show of support, the noise and the carnival atmosphere during nominations are a must. There are, however, no untoward incidents ever reported even when one party’s supporter steps on another’s toe. It is always peaceful,” said a resident who came to see the show unfurl.
Traffic, though slow, flowed normally throughout the duration with only the route to the DC office closed to allow for smooth nominations to continue.
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