Late PA Sangma is focal point of Meghalaya poll campaign 

Allied and Opposition parties slam the National People’s Party for falling back on the former Lok Sabha Speaker to cover up for its failures 

GUWAHATI

Almost seven years after his death, former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma has become the focal point of electoral politics in Meghalaya. 

The National People’s Party (NPP) underlined the legacy of its late leader while launching its campaign from Adokgre in North Garo Hills district on January 23. Party leaders, including Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, appealed to the voters to “not let P.A. Sangma down” by opting for other political parties. 

Sangma, who founded the NPP in 2013 after his expulsion from the Nationalist Congress Party, used to start his electoral campaign from Adokgre – his “land of victory” – ever since 1977, when he won his first Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate. 

During the campaign opener, the NPP relived Sangma’s life through a playback of his audio and video clips showing him talking about A’chik pride and A’chik identity. The party also played one of his favourite songs, ‘ Oh ang aman asong’, which it claimed was “like an anthem to the people of the Garo Hills”. 

A’chik refers to the Garo community, to which Sangma belonged. The Garos dominate the western half of Meghalaya, comprising 24 of the State’s 60 Assembly seats. 

Both allied and Opposition parties have slammed the NPP for falling back on Sangma’s legacy to cover up for its “litany of failures” as the dominant party in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government. All the allies in the government, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are contesting against each other.