SHILLONG: A section of the constituents from Ranikor Assembly constituency have suggested fielding a consensus candidate against Martin Danggo who is likely to contest on an NPP ticket in the forthcoming by-election to Ranikor constituency.
The supporters of UDP, People’s Democratic Front (PDF) and BJP were present during a meeting on the by-election at the official residence of UDP president, Donkupar Roy on Tuesday in which UDP’s aspiring candidates Pius Marwein and PDF MDC PN Syiem were present.
UDP member Bindo Lanong exuded confidence and said, “The majority of the constituents have called for putting up a consensus candidate against Danggo to ensure victory.”
He said the UDP would sit in a meeting again and will inform party’s president about the minutes of the meeting when he arrives.
“We as a party will have to deliberate about the matter if there is a need and I do feel the need to call both candidates (Marwein and Syiem) and their supporters to make them understand about a consensus candidate,” Lanong said adding that the party will work out a strategy.
General Secretary of the party, Jemino Mawthoh said supporters from UDP, PDF, and BJP were present at the meeting to air their suggestions on the topic of a common candidate and who will be the best candidate.
“We will analyse their suggestions and decide accordingly,” he said.
“The majority of the people were opposed to the premature resignation of (Martin) Danggo which posed difficulty to the public and also lead to wasteful expenditure for the government,” Lanong said.
Speaking about the prospects of People’s Democratic Front (PDF) MDC PN Syiem, he said the people realize it would be too late for him as Ranikor is a huge constituency.
“Many areas of the constituency will have to be reached on foot and whether a candidate will be able to cover the entire constituency or not only time will tell,” he added.