Congress has advantage over P.A. Sangma: Meghalaya CM

Congress candidate Daryl William Cheran Momin has the advantage over former Lok Sabha speaker Purno A. Sangma to win the elections from Tura, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said Thursday.

"People in Garo Hills know that Purno Sangma has taken them for a ride in his long political innings," Mukul Sangma told journalists.

"His (Purno Sangma) jumping back to the same party and again shifting to several other parties has revealed the lack of clarity and has exposed his rhetoric," the Congress leader said.

On Monday, Purno Sangma announced his candidature from the Tura parliamentary seat on a National People's Party (NPP) ticket.

The Congress has decided to field Momin, the grandson of first chief minister late Capt. Williamson A. Sangma.

"He (Momin) is a new entrant in politics, but the Congress will make a difference this time in Tura. I was also new to politics when I first contested election and I won the election because of people have on me," Mukul Sangma said.

Tura constituency is now represented in the Lok Sabha by Purno Sangma's daughter Agatha Sangma.

She has decided not to contest the April 9 elections to make room for her father who had earlier represented the constituency.

Agatha, the youngest parliamentarian in the current Lok Sabha, quit the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to join her father and the NPP.