UDP, HSPDP bag two seats each, single for Congress &
NCP in KHADC, Cong winner in JHADC
SHILLONG/NONGSTOIN: The District Council by-election results came as an embarrassment to Home Minister H.D.R Lyngdoh, whose son was in the fray, and HSPDP chief Ardent Basaiawmoit.
Lyngdoh’s son, Nathaniel Osbert Rymmai, and Basaiawmoit’s nominee, Hubert Ford Riang, lost the race from Sohiong-Nongspung and Nongkrem, respectively.
HSPDP, however, had a face-saver with two new seats – Sohiong-Nongspung constituency, won by Samlin Malniang after defeating HDR’s son by 1,191 votes, and Mawthadraishan constituency, won by Blandingstar Warjri.
HSPDP’s Malniang told reporters, “This victory is a mandate of the people that they wanted change. The people want to do away with money power.”
Stressing on the need for a change in the electorate’s mindset, he said, “People asked for money instead I said they do not need to vote. We need a change in this regard as we need a representative who does not hand out money to the voters.”
In Nongkrem, former KHADC chief executive member H.S Shylla defeated HSPDP’s Riang, who came third, by 1,975 votes. Congress’ Lamborsing Nongrum was on the second spot.
“It is the end of Ardent Basaiawmoit’s era. I stand on the foundation of truth and there was no strategy as such during the elections,” Shylla said, adding that the defeat in the semi-final (council election) will eclipse the other candidates’ performance in the finals (2018). The UDP leader had resisted the government’s plan to extend MUDA to rural areas.
He had also voiced concerns over the loopholes in the marriage act and called for amendments to the penalty clauses.
NCP managed to retain Laban-Mawprem as the race was close with 107-vote margin. Ricky Shullai credited his uncle Sanbor Shullai for his victory and vowed to follow in his footsteps and work hard in the next two years.
The BJP, however, could not live up to its big talks before the by-election.
The regional party KHNAM did not make any impact.
In another setback, the HSPDP MLA from Rambrai-Jyrngam, K.P Pangniang, was left red-faced after his party candidate World Champion Paliar lost to Congress’ Kimfa Sidney Marbaniang, a business tycoon. This is the lone seat in the KHADC that came into the Congress’s kitty.
Marbaniang contested elections thrice in the past and lost one in the 2013 assembly election and in the 2014 KHADC election. This time he won by a margin of 2,937 votes. He called his and the Congress’s victory ‘the beginning of a new era in the constituency”.
“People of Rambrai are getting tired of regional parties, especially HSPDP, which have no hope in bringing development in Rambrai,” JTS Thongni said during the celebration in Nongstoin.
The Congress also won the lone JHADC seat. Its candidate, Lamdibok Sumer, defeated Independent Losing Lakuna by 177 votes to win War East that was earlier represented by Independent member Stephanson Mukhim who was associated with Congress.
While UDP lost the Pariong-Mawthadraishan seat, the party moved ahead in Mairang-Nongkhlaw, won by Equator L. Nongrang though with a narrow margin of 70 votes. Both Mawthadraishan and Mairang are represented in the Assembly by UDP’s Brolding Nongsiej and Metbah Lyngdoh.
Party Position
KHADC
Total: 6
UDP: 2
HSPDP: 2
Congress: 1
NCP: 1
JHADC
Total: 1
Congress: 1