THE HAJONG PLUNGE
Ampati awaits the crucial and prestigious final contest to the sixty member Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya. The stronghold of the Congress and former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, who had now chosen his 27 year old daughter Miani D. Shira to hold the fort. Though her father and mother Dikancchi Shira are seasoned politicians, Miani is coming out in the field for the first time. She is pitched against Clement Momin of the National People’s Party (NPP), who obviously has the advantage of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance. However, in between comes in Subankar Koch, who was denied a BJP ticket, yet determined to go ahead as an Independent. Therefore, the Koch factor could upset either side in the matter of the voting pattern, although the BJP is coming all out right from the national and state leaders, who are thick in the campaign. The total voting strength of Ampati is thirty thousand. Subankar Koch has a slice of ten thousand votes, specially from the Hajong and Koch and also Garo and Muslim communities, which can tip the scales in favour of Clement or Miani.