TURA:
Monday morning’s election of the next Chief Executive Member of the GHADC will be decided by secret ballot as 28 MDCs, barring the deputy chairman, cast their vote to decide who among the two contenders will come out on top.
The fight for the top post is between ousted CEM Benedic R Marak, who is backed by the opposition Trinamool Congress and the BJP, and his NPP challenger and former chairman Rakesh A Sangma.
As things stand, and going by the result of the no-confidence motion which dislodged Benedic Marak as CEM on Saturday, the numbers appear to be on the side of the NPP-led alliance.
Rakesh A Sangma has the backing of 16 MDCs, which includes the deputy chairman, Albinush Marak, who can vote in the event of a tie, while Benedic Marak has 13 members on his side, including himself.
Both Rakesh and Benedic have confirmed that they will be casting their vote in their own election which will be conducted by deputy chairman Albinush Marak.
Both sides are confident of victory although the number game seems to be in favour of the NPP alliance.
The defection to the NPP camp by three opposition MDCs, Ashahel D Shira to UDP, Trinamool’s Habibuz Zaman and Stevie Marak, changed the political game ahead of the no-confidence motion, last week.
It reduced the Trinamool to 9 MDCs.
However, CEM Benedic Marak’s crossing over with Dhormonath Sangma to the Trinamool has bolstered the numbers. To add to this was the presence of the BJP MDCs, Promod Koch and Bernard Marak, on the opposition side raising the tally to 13.
Unless there is a break within the ranks of the NPP alliance and two or more cast their ballot in favour of the opposition candidate, things appear to be bleak for the Trinamool side.
But, neither side is pre-celebrating a victory or accepting defeat until the last ballot is counted. Past history has shown how MDCs have erred in their voting, deliberate or otherwise, during such contests changing the political equation.