SHILLONG: After the verdict it was time to thank supporters or welcome their mandate for a change.
Ampareen Lyngdoh, who retained her East Shillong seat for the third consecutive time, said after the results were declared o Saturday that she would not let the people of the constituency down.
“I am going to fight tooth and nail to see that every resident in my constituency gets a better place in the next five years,” she told reporters.
Lyngdoh did not miss the opportunity to lambast BJP for stoking hatred.
“BJP came here and taught us hatred but we are above them and we should teach them love,” she said, adding that it was sad that certain pockets in the city got carried away and “BJP brought in the communal factor”.
The Congress leader feared that there would be horse-trading in the state following the fractured mandate.
Former Congress leader from Pynursla Prestone Tynsong, who won the election as an NPP candidate, said the picture as far as the formation of the government would be clearer by Sunday.
Asked if he is considering himself as the chief ministerial candidate, he refused to comment on the matter while adding that the matter has to be discussed among the elected MLAs.
When asked about majority of sitting MLAs who joined NPP and lost, Tynsong said you cannot do anything when there is no mandate for them.
BJP MLA from Pynthorumkhrah constituency AL Hek said NPP and BJP will form the new government in Meghalaya “where the chief minister will be from the big brother and the deputy chief minister will be from the smaller brother”.
The biggest surprise came when Congress MLA and Home Minister HDR Lyngdoh lost from Sohiong constituency.
“I respect the mandate of the people and people are the best judge,” he said while admitting that it was an unexpected verdict.
He said he was representing the people for as many as 30 years and probably people wanted a change in the constituency.
KHNAM candidate Adelbert Nongrum who won the polls for the first time after defeating JA Lyngdoh of BJP in North Shillong said the boundary dispute with Assam will be his priority. But he refused to comment on which party he would support.
Independent MLA Lambor Malngiang, who defeated Ardent Basaiawmoit from Nongkrem constituency, said it was a team work. Malngiang and other MLAs will urge the Election Commission to revert back to the old system of ballot voting, the winners said.
David Nongrum said he was an independent candidate and he joined the Congress to make sure that the Congress comes back to power in Meghalaya because of its secular nature.
His father, Charles Pyngrope, who is making a re-entry into the state politics after winning from Nongthymmai, said if the party requires, he would give his inputs for the strategy to form the new government.