Council polls: Regional parties first to name candidates

SHILLONG: Regional parties in the state took the lead in releasing the list of candidates for the 2019 council elections followed by the Congress while the BJP is yet to announce its list.
Two prominent regional parties, UDP and HSPDP, released the first list of candidates featuring 10 and six candidates, respectively. UDP released the list in October and HSPDP in November.
A source in the UDP said for the council polls, the two regional parties have left the selection of candidates on leaders at the constituency level, “which is more democratic”.
Stating that the understanding with the HSPDP still continues, the source added that functionaries of both the parties at the grassroots level understand the ground reality better than those at the state level.
Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Front released the list of nine names in December while the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) has fielded three candidates so far.
The Congress announced names of 29 candidates for the KHADC and the JHADC council polls on Friday.
However, the BJP is yet to come out with the list of candidates.