Chances good for nominee: Cong
SHILLONG: Congress MDC Grace Mary Kharpuri has decided to resign from the party to contest the Shella bypoll as an Independent candidate.
Grace said, “I have decided to resign as Congress MDC from Nongshken constituency, but I will go ahead and contest the Shella by-election.”
According to Grace, she was supposed to get the Congress ticket but it went to Batyngshain Ryngnga.
“Giving the ticket to Batyngshain Ryngnga shows that the Congress does not want to win the election. I have been an MDC for the last three terms and I already have sufficient vote bank,” he said.
Stating that the wind is blowing in her favour, Kharpuri said the people want a change, perhaps by electing a woman.
Nongshken, the KHADC constituency, falls under Shella Assembly segment.
The Opposition Congress on Wednesday said its chances of winning the October 21 by-election to the Shella Assembly seat was good even as Grace decided to quit.
Opposition Chief Whip and Congress MLA PT Sawkmie told reporters that the party had received three applications and all of them were good, but they decided to field the best candidate as Laitmon had done very well in the 2018 Assembly election.
He said that the prospect of Congress is very good since the party has a strong base in the constituency.
Laitmon had secured third position in 2018 polling 4332 votes while Donkupar Roy had emerged victorious with 8280 votes.