Guwahati: Meghalaya gave a thumbs down to the ruling National People’s Party (NPP), a constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), as the fledgling Voice of the People Party (VPP) and the Congress won the two Lok Sabha seats.
The NPP had not contested the two seats in Arunachal Pradesh, while the BJP returned the favour by not entering the poll fray in Meghalaya.
More importantly, the little-known VPP managed to snatch the coveted Shillong parliamentary seat from the Congress. Even more surprising was the outcome in Tura, the other seat, where sitting MP and chief minister Conrad Sangma’s sister Agatha Sangma lost from the family bastion.
The chief minister congratulated winners of the two seats, saying that the NPP “humbly accepts and respects the mandate of the people.”
We humbly accept and respect the mandate of the people and wish Mr Saleng A Sangma and Mr Ricky Andrew J Syngkon the very best.
— Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) June 4, 2024
As the dust settled on the parliamentary polls, the results appeared to be a “welcome change” for many local residents. The VPP won by a margin of 3.71 lakh votes.
While the regional party’s Ricky A.J. Syngkon got 5,71,078 votes, sitting MP and Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Vincent H. Pala managed only 1,99,168 votes.
Pala was closely followed by NPP’s M. Ampareen Lyngdoh with 1,86,488 votes, while United Democratic Party’s Robertjune Kharjahrin came fourth with 44,563 votes.
“For the Indian National Congress, Shillong proved to be a setback. In 2021-22, Meghalaya Congress suffered a major blow after all its legislators left the party. Pala thought it would be easy to revive the party, but politics has its own dynamics,” a political analyst told ThePrint.
Another analyst observed that the people of Khasi and Jaintia Hills were failed by both the Congress and the NPP, and felt a need for change.
“People desired change all through. Former chief minister Mukul Sangma had been in power for almost eight years till the NPP took over in 2018. But in the past five years, hardly anything has changed as expected. Last assembly election in 2023, the NPP managed to get just 8 seats in the Khasi Jaintia region,” he said.
“The VPP won only 4 seats in the assembly polls, and this happened because there was a need for change — people voted against unemployment, loss of livelihood, and most importantly, corruption. The term ‘high-level’ is very popular in Meghalaya, referring to only those in power making profit. Today’s results could cost the NPP heavily in the next election if a corrective course is not found,” the analyst added.
Tura results biggest upset in Northeast
On the other hand, sitting MP Agatha Sangma of the NPP lost in the Sangma family’s prestigious and “carefully guarded” Tura seat in Garo Hills.
Breaking the decades-long legacy of former chief minister P.A. Sangma, Congress candidate Saleng A. Sangma won by a huge margin of 1,55,241 votes. While Sangma got a total of 3,83,919 votes, Agatha secured 2,28,678 and Trinamool Congress’s Zenith Sangma got 48,709 votes.
The ruling NPP, despite having 18 legislators from Garo Hills, could not save P.A. Sangma’s bastion, which his family had been holding since 1977.
In 1989, P.A. Sangma became the chief minister of Meghalaya. Being the leader of Congress legislature party, he recommended another Congress candidate, Sanford Marak, to contest from Tura.
However, in 1991, P.A. Sangma once again contested from this seat and emerged victorious. Since then, the Sangma family has never let anyone set eyes on this seat. Apart from the Sangma patriarch, son Conrad held Tura once and daughter Agatha had won it twice.
The key factors deciding Agatha Sangma’s fate in Tura were incumbency, lack of development and not enough visibility among the electorate
However, in 1991, P.A. Sangma once again contested from this seat and emerged victorious. Since then, the Sangma family has never let anyone set eyes on this prestigious seat. Apart from the Sangma patriarch, son Conrad held Tura once and daughter Agatha had won it twice.
Local residents, however, said the main reason for NPP’s loss is its tie-up with the BJP, which did not go down well in the Christian-majority state. The state election commission stated that NOTA tallied 11,008 votes, while another 646 got rejected.
(Edited by Tony Rai)