By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Despite going public with the news that the UDP was trying to woo former Home Minister RG Lyngdoh into contesting next year’s Lok Sabha elections from the Shillong parliamentary seat, the party has also began scanning for alternative candidates.
Party sources on Tuesday informed that the UDP wants RG Lyngdoh to contest from the party in the Lok Sabha polls but at the same time it is trying to persuade the two working presidents – Paul Lyngdoh and Bindo Mathew Lanong – to contest the 2014 polls from the Shillong seat.
With reports doing the round that the Congress would try to bring back Lyngdoh into the party, the UDP is looking for alternative candidates to contest the election, the sources said.
“The party does not want to face a situation where they would find it difficult to get a suitable candidate who has a good prospect of winning the election,” the sources said.
The party sources also said that if RG Lyngdoh decides to return back to his party (Congress), then one of the UDP working presidents would be finalized as the party candidate.
The sources, however, mentioned that it was unlikely that Paul Lyngdoh would contest the MP election since he would like to continue as an MLA for the time being.
In such a case, Lanong would become the automatic choice to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the UDP, the sources said.