Tura: Voting for the Tura Lok Sabha seat is over, and all we can do now is wait for June 4 to learn who emerges victorious. This is the right time to look at what happened during the campaign.
To begin with, let’s start with when announcements of candidates were made for each party in the run-up to the polls. Agatha Sangma’s candidature as the NPP’s MP prospect was a no-brainer, with the name of the 3-time MP being announced almost a year before the announcement of polls as the Shillong candidate for the party, M Ampareen Lyngdoh.
For Congress, Shillong MP Vincent Pala was the known candidate although there was speculation on the Tura seat, with two prospects, Saleng Sangma and former Deputy CM Deborah Marak in the fray.
Deborah ultimately withdrew her candidature, leaving Saleng as the only Congress candidate. That stroke could be a masterstroke in the making. Saleng’s name as the Congress aspirant was announced more than a month before the polls.
For the TMC, also a part of the all-INDIA Bloc alliance with the Congress, there was a push to divide the two seats, the Congress gets Shillong while the Tura seat goes to the TMC with support for the Congress.
However, with the announcement of Saleng as Congress’ official candidate, the TMC was on the back foot to start proceeding with the TMC announcing Zenith Sangma as their official candidate to take on all comers.
While their reasons for seeking the Tura seat were fair (with the TMC being the second largest by vote share in the recently concluded Assembly elections in 2023) the Cong announcement left them with no time to give a massive push to their candidate.
With the announcements of the three candidates (plus Labenn Marak as the lone Independent), the path seemed clear for Agatha to once again return to power.
The fact that the BJP did not field a candidate should have been an icing on the cake as most of the Hindu votes would then get pushed into the NPP’s pocket – given the fact that the BJP was an ally of the NPP. Many even began calling the election a no-contest even a month before voting.
While the BJP support would have been initially welcomed, the fact that the BJP was to provide direct support to the NPP, not as alliance partners but as a direct one may have become the biggest ‘small mistake’ made by the Conrad Sangma-led NPP.
The apprehension of the NPP of the BJP candidate in Tura was not really out of context as Bernard Marak (who was most likely to be the BJP MP face) could have messed up calculations big time mainly due to the massive amount of campaigning he had undertaken before the BJP announcing its withdrawal from the race.
The withdrawal of the BJP and its direct alignment with the NPP led to two things: one – a lot of disgruntlement in local BJP party ranks and an open invitation to the opposition to use its proximity.
The state BJP president, Rikman G Momin, did come out to allay fears of the BJP not standing in support but knowing how grass-root politics works, the worst was yet to come for the NPP.
In the immediate aftermath, there was apprehension in the NPP ranks as to whether the party members would follow the diktat of the central leaders – a fact that was reiterated by Agatha as well as other NPP in the run-up to the NPP campaign.
The BJP’s direct support for the NPP provided a boost for those fighting against the NPP’s hegemony over the Tura seat as it provided the best possible start for the Congress and the TMC which the two parties took advantage of, to the hilt.
Every campaign of the TMC and the Congress began to post pictures of the ‘unholy’ alliance of the BJP-NPP combine.
Photos of PM Narendra Modi and Agatha Sangma in the same poster with the words ‘Vote for Agatha to vote for Modi’ began to make the rounds almost immediately after to take advantage of the region’s fear of the BJP.
“If Mukul Sangma’s worst mistake was leaving the Congress, the NPP’s biggest mistake will be to be on the same podium with the BJP and that too on the same podium. This is not going to augur well for the party in the coming times for the NPP. The long-term repercussions are huge,” felt a resident of Tura on condition of anonymity.
Campaigning got off to a start in Garo Hills with the initial advantage going to the NPP based on the sole fact that 16 representatives of the NPP along with an Independent MLA bolstered the numbers.
However, the ‘BJP’ and ‘NPP’ alliance began to play immediately as soon as campaigning started with both the Congress and the TMC playing this to the hilt (to add to the CAA, betel nut – sugar smuggling).
Saleng Sangma became a movement soon after as most people began to gravitate towards the Congress.
“Some of the scenes could be right out of a movie. People began to throng Saleng’s campaigns and when someone pointed out that he had no money, they began to contribute. In the history of Garo Hills, we have never seen people come forward to support a candidate this way. An emotional Saleng was also seen crying when people gave money, hens and even clothes to help in his campaigning. This trend continued and many came to contribute to the cause of Congress (and Saleng),” added another Phulbari resident.
The alliance with the BJP helped both the Congress and the TMC but more people began to back Saleng than they did others. While Saleng drew crowds, the others did not and it became a major cause of worry.
“Many shows of strengths of the NPP became shows of weakness as expected crowds did not show up. On the other hand, people reached Saleng’s campaigns by the droves and began to pour their money into campaigns. Whether he wins or not was never their thinking. They only wanted to be a part of the movement and to contribute to it,” added another.
The words of NPP MLAs Rakkam Sangma (Education Minister) and Marcuise Marak (PHE) regarding the current MP election being extremely close are a reverberation of emotion being felt.
June 4 will decide who gets to represent the people of Tura (or Garo Hills) but for the people of Garo Hills, this MP election has been unique.
“We have heard of people crowdfunding elections of candidates but to see it first-hand in Garo Hills, will remain with us to our grave. Whether Saleng wins or not, the writing is on the wall. The NPP now has to ensure it does not fail in governance in the next few years before the next Assembly elections and the upcoming MDC election. Whether it can change the narrative in the coming few years or not, remains to be seen. The task is uphill for now,” felt another resident again on condition of anonymity.
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