Mukul on 'Mission 38'

FROM A STAFF CORRESPONDENT

TURA, Jan 25:  With a figure of 38 in the 60-member Legislative Assembly being set as target, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma sees no “anti-incumbency factor” to deter the Congress party from winning the ensuing Assembly election once again.

Amidst talks that the Congress will get a serious drubbing in many constituencies represented by its legislators due to the anti-incumbency factor, Sangma, during an interaction with this correspondent, gave his own alysis on the issue.

“There will always be fingers pointed at us by our opponents to try and create a perception that the elected legislators and the government have failed to deliver without understanding how we have overcome many challenges right from 2010,” stated Sangma, while asserting that the odds can be overcome.

Admitting that anti-incumbency factor will come into play, Sangma, however, felt that it will be a factor at two different layers. He said one will at the micro level and the other at the macro level. “At the micro or constituency level, the factor may come into being, but from a macro point of view, there is little that will prevent the Congress from returning to power.

“If at all the anti-incumbency factor creeps into some Assembly segments, we have many other constituencies that we can bank on,” the Chief Minister asserted while citing the constituencies not represented by the Congress.

While pursuing “Mission 38”, Sangma is also banking on the anti-incumbency of some legislators who have now deserted the ruling Meghalaya United Alliance coalition.