Meghalaya: Congress Nominates Saleng A. Sangma From Tura (image-facebook/Saleng Sangma)

One of the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Meghalaya, Tura, comprises 24 Vidhan Sabha segments. The Congress party has not been able to secure the Tura Lok Sabha seat since 1998. Parties such as the All-India Trinamool Congress (AITC), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the National People’s Party (NPP) have wielded some influence over the seat in the past.

Since 2014, the NPP has fielded three different candidates from the same family: Purno Agitok Sangma (2014), Conrad Sangma (by-elections of 2016), and Agatha Sangma (2019).

The NPP has nominated sitting MP Agatha Sangma, sister of the current Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma. Earlier, Agatha became the youngest MP at 29 in India to be appointed as Union Minister. Both Conrad and Agatha are the children of the former Chief Minister of the state, who has a history of winning the Tura Lok Sabha seat from 1977 to 1989, 1991 to 2008, and 2014 to 2016. PA Sangma was also in the race for the presidential election but lost to Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee.

Reportedly, the NPP claims of not feeling threatened by the nomination of the Congress candidate. But Saleng Sangma remains unbothered. Relying on the decisions of the people, he understands that the NPP”s Sangma family’s roots lie deep within the politics of Tura and, by extension, Meghalaya. Yet he promises that if the people vote for him, he will fight for them.

With a family history as such as the opponents, it will be a tough road ahead for Saleng Sangma to establish himself as a worthy candidate for the Tura Lok Sabha seat.

Saleng Sangma currently serves as a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, representing Gambegre. He graduated from Martin Luther Christian University in Shillong in 2009.