TURA, Feb 12 � A new political alliance has taken control of the helm of affairs in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) following the Congress-led alliance having won the contest for the post of Chief Executive Member on Saturday paving the way for the formation of a new Executive Committee to run the administration of the GHADC after ten months of instability that led to direct administration rule by the State Government.
A total of seventeen MDCs voted in favour of the new alliance. None from the opposition NCP alliance came to contest the floor test for the CEM�s post.
Rebel NCP MDC from Jengjal, Purno K Sangma, who deserted the party to join the Congress, won the floor test by a voice vote because the opposition failed to seek a contest. But already rumblings of discontent have surfaced among its own members.
Nevertheless, the Congress and its allies now have a clear majority of eighteen MDCs, which includes the CEM, in a house of thirty, with one nominated member.
The bone of contention has been the decision of the Congress high command in the State to decide on P K Sangma for the next CEM even though there were other senior party members who had expressed their keenness to take up the mantle.
�The primary reason the NCP alliance fell through in April, last year, inspite of having a clear cut majority was because most of the MDCs resented the decision of P A Sangma to hand the administration reins to P K Sangma. We wanted a change and had projected long-time MDC Roynath D Sangma,� pointed out one of the supporting MDCs of the NCP who has now given his backing to the new Congress-led alliance.
�Now we are back to dealing with the very person whom we wanted removed,� lamented another MDC.
Prior to the desertion from the NCP to the Congress by the then CEM P K Sangma, there were several attempts to put in place a Congress alliance with former CEM Alphonse A Sangma of Siju. Alphonse Sangma, despite winning from the NCP ticket, raised the first banner of revolt against the Purno K Sangma-led Executive Committee by resigning from the NCP and joining the Congress with another senior MDC from Balachanda � Lalthaunga D Shira.
This was followed by senior UDP MDC from Bolsong, Brigady Marak severing ties with the P K Sangma regime and marching over to the Congress camp.
But the latest developments indicate that the new arrangement will remain in place for sometime now with inside sources indicating that Brigady Marak would be rewarded with the post of Deputy CEM while Alphonse Sangma would be �gifted� a rank in one of the government establishments in Shillong.
