SHILLONG: The Opposition Congress has won the by-election to Ampati Assembly constituency in Meghalaya by defeating the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) as per the poll results declared on Thursday.
The Congress candidate Miani D Shira, a 27-year-old green horn in politics and daughter of former chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma, defeated her nearest rival from the NPP, Clement G Momin, by a margin of 3191 votes. The Congress candidate polled 14,259 votes against 11,068 votes polled by the NPP candidate.
The NPP candidate was backed by all the constituents of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) including the BJP, UDP, HSPDP, PDF. However, the combined efforts by the NPP-led ruling alliance did not suffice to wrest Ampati from the grip of Congress and the family of Dr Mukul Sangma, the former Chief Minister and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader.
The NPP candidate was coasting towards a victory till the end of fourth round of counting , but was finally trounced in the fifth and final round of counting of votes.
The by-election to Ampati Assembly constituency in Garo Hills was held on May 28. The constituency is considered a citadel of the Congress given that former Chief Minister and the incumbent Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, Dr Mukul Sangma had been representing the constituency for the last 25 years consecutively. Mukul Sangma had won from Ampati for the sixth time on February 27 Assembly polls, but later vacated the seat as he had won from Songsak constituency too.
On May 28, Ampati had registered approximately 90.42 percent voter turnout in the by-election.
