Adokgre (Meghalaya), Mar 16 (Agency) The Sangma siblings – Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, his sister and incumbent Lok Sabha member Agatha Sangma and their elder brother James Sangma – on Friday kickstarted National People’s Party’s (NPP) poll campaign for the Tura Lok Sabha seat from the heritage village of Adokgre in North Garo Hills district. Adokgre named as “Chenanggre” or land of victory has been the ground for campaign for Purno Sangma. In 2016, Conrad K. Sangma, took over as National President of the party and has continued the tradition, which is over 30 plus years now. “Be it MP, MLA or MDC elections, our father P A Sangma always began his campaign from Adokgre because he believed in victory and hence the name of Chenanggre. It used to start from a small rostom in the field, and today we stand before you from a stadium fulfilling our leader’s dreams,” Conrad, who is also the NPP national Chief, said. Stating that Meghalaya in general, and Garo Hills region in particular, has witnessed a mass transformation in the last six years, the Chief Minister said, “Earlier, if roads were good then the belief was that the area belonged to Assam, while bad roads indicated Garo Hills. That is no longer the case.” Seeking votes in favour of Agatha, the NPP chief said “Today the daughter of P A Sangma stands before you seeking your support. We cannot forget Late P A Sangma.”
He said that this election is important for NPP and expressed confidence the margin of victory will surpass that of the 1.90 lakh victory margin bestowed on him when he contested the by-poll following the death of P A Sangma in 2016. “I am confident we will have the biggest margin of victory in this election which will be nothing short of 2.50 lakh or even 3 lakh margin,” a confident Conrad declared. All bigwigs of the party including State President Prestone Tynsong, Rajya Sabha MP Dr W.R. Kharlukhi, State Working President Marcuise Marak, and host of other party leaders assembled at Adokgre to kick off the poll campaign. Both the candidates Dr. Ampareen Lyngdoh for Shillong Lok Sabha and Agatha K. Sangma for Tura Lok Sabha were present at the campaign.