SHILLONG: The ruling coalition in the state may be in a quandary with several allies calling for a common candidate with no party affiliation and who will contest the Lok Sabha election with a separate symbol.
The alliance partners recently held a meeting to discuss the issue of common candidate and all of them had given suggestions. But talks remained inconclusive.
One of the suggestions emerged was to have a candidate who is not connected with any political party.
Independent legislator Lambor Malngiang, who is supporting the coalition government, said on Friday a common candidate should not contest with a party tag but should be a candidate of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance.
Recalling the candidature policy of the Regional People’s Alliance (RPA) during the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, Malngiang told reporters that MDA can have a similar policy.
“In the 2004 Lok Sabha poll, Dr S Loniak Marbaniang had contested as the candidate of the RPA despite being a member of the HSPDP. Dr Marbaniang was allotted a separate symbol since he was contesting as a candidate of the RPA,” said the MLA who is also the chairman of the Meghalaya State Planning Board.
Malngiang’s statement comes days after the UDP, the second largest ally after NPP, named Jemino Mawthoh as the common candidate from Shillong.
The UDP’s move makes it even more difficult for the government to choose a party-neutral candidate.
When asked about UDP, Malngiang said the suggestion will be placed before the coordination committee of the MDA and other parties are likely to propose the names of their leaders too.
“But the final call on the common candidate will be by the coordination committee. The committee is expected to decide on the issue of common candidate within this month,” he added.
The ruling coalition in Meghalaya has the NPP with the largest number of MLAs at 20, the UDP with nine MLAs, the People’s Democratic Front with four, BJP and Hill State People’s Democratic Party with two each and one NCP legislator.
Malngiang recollected that the formation of the RPA was a unique one since the regional parties were supporting the Congress-led government and they had decided to come together to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
Though Marbaniang was defeated in 2004, the legislator believes that this time the alliance with the support of 39 MLAs has an upper hand.
“We can definitely win both Shillong and Tura seats if we project MDA candidate and not allow an individual party to contest in the name of ‘common candidate’ of an alliance,” the MLA said.
UDP vice-president Allantry F Dkhar is “hopeful” that the MDA would accept Mawthoh as its “common candidate”.
“We believe in democracy, we subscribe to democratic practices and democratic principles,” Dkhar said.
According to Congress sources, these differences, however, are a good sign for the party which would try to retain the seat. MP Vincent Pala is likely to get Congress ticket again and may retain Shillong seat if the MDA fails to fight collectively, the sources added.
