SHILLONG: The shifting of allegiance before the election did not augur well for several turncoats whose electoral race ended not with a bang but a whimper.
Despite riding on the strong anti-incumbency wave, most of the defectors, the prominent among them being PN Syiem, had a humiliating defeat.
Syiem, the KHADC chief executive member, who revolted against Mukul Sangma and formed the People’s Democratic Front (PDF), lost to political greenhorn HM Shangpliang, a former bureaucrat, fielded by the Congress.
Shangpliang defeated Syiem, the sitting MLA from Mawsynram, by a margin of 794 votes.
Veteran politician Rowell Lyngdoh, who deserted Congress and joined the National People’s Party (NPP), met with the same fate.
Lyngdoh, who contested from Mawkyrwat, slid to the third spot with 4,038 votes. The HSPDP took the cake in the South West Khasi Hills constituency.
Apart from Lyngdoh, Remington Pyngrope who left UDP and joined NPP after being denied a ticket was third on the list with 5,508 votes.
Similarly, Umroi sitting MLA Ngaitlang Dhar, who quit the Congress along with his brother and former minister Sniawbhalang Dhar, lost as NPP candidate from the constituency by a margin of 1,018 votes.
Two independent MLAs who were part of the Congress-led MUA government and later withdrew to join BJP also lost from Mowkaiaw and Khliehriat, respectively.
BJP’s Robinus Syngkon came third by securing 5,751 votes and Justine Dkhar lost to UDP’s Kyrmen Shylla by a margin of 8,181 votes, the highest in the state.
