Songsak (East Garo Hills), Jan 31: Champion Sangma and Nihim D. Shira may be opponents on the election battleground but the childhood friends’ goal is the same, to keep “the outsider” at bay.
The sitting MLA, Mukul Sangma, who is Trinamool Congress’s candidate from Songsak, is not from the constituency. “For 33 years, this place has been led by outside people. People here have understood that they need a local MLA. Mukul Sangma has not done anything,” said Nihim, who is the NPP candidate from here.
Mukul defeated Nihim in 2018 by over 1,300 votes. Nihim won the seat in 2008 on NCP ticket. He was re-elected in 2013 as an NPP candidate.
Nihim said there was no malice towards Champion and it would be a “friendly fight” with his childhood friend. The latter echoed the sentiment.
“We often call each other. Though we are opponents, the real fight is not with him but with Mukul Sangma,” the Congress candidate reiterated.
According to Champion, voters are unhappy with NPP and would go for a new leader this time. With the support of BJP and UDP, he is confident to have an edge over other candidates. “The Congress has a majority vote bank and only a few are left with Mukul,” he added.
However, voters have a different take. When Meghalaya Monitor spoke to a section of people in the market and local shops, they said it was Mukul whom they are reposing their trust on. When asked about the ‘outsider’ issue, a septuagenarian said on condition of anonymity that he was unaware of such sentiments. “We were supporters of the Congress when Mukul was in the party. Now that he has joined TMC, we will vote for that party,” he said as several others sitting in the tea shop agreed.
The constituency has 31,799 voters and 64 polling booths.
