Tura by-poll: Cong to field winnable candidate

SHILLONG: Congress is looking for a winnable candidate for the by-poll in Tura parliamentary seat.
The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant following the demise of sitting MP and NPP supremo P A Sangma on March 4.
MPCC president DD Lapang said that he had already discussed the issue (selection of candidate) with Chief Minister  Mukul Sangma.
“Winnability will be sole criterion for candidate selection,” Lapang said.
Earlier, the NPP had appealed to political parties not to put up any candidate as a mark of respect to the political stalwart from Garo Hills.
The Chief Minister, while responding to the plea, has rejected it indicating that the party was committed to field a candidate.
In the 2014 elections, Sangma had defeated the Congress rival Daryl William Cheran Momin by a margin of over 40,000 votes.
It is yet to be known whether the Congress will field the same candidate once again.
Though Conrad Sangma was elected as NPP President, the party has not zeroed in on who will contest the Tura seat.
Other political parties in the state including BJP are unlikely to put up any candidate for Tura seat.  NPP is currently an ally of NDA led BJP government at the Centre.