SHILLONG: Shella by-election is finally over and while the UDP is optimistic that the party would win the election by a margin of atleast one thousand votes, the Congress on the other hand says that the party os awaiting reports.
UDP leader Bindo Lanong said the Congress party realised that they don’t have any chance to win the election and hence they showed affiliation to the independent candidate, Grace Mary Kharpuri just few days before the poll but their move was too late and it could not bring any positive results for the Congress.
“They changed their strategy but it was too late for them (Congress), he said while maintaining that if the move was applied earlier, situation would have been difficult for UDP”, he said. However, despite the last minute strategy of the Congress, Lanong is confident that the UDP would win by a margin of at least one thousand votes which Late Donkupar Roy could never achieve in his seven consecutive victories as the MLA.
On the other hand, BJP which was banking on non-tribal votes in the constituency, thanked the voters and hoped that the people of Shella must have chosen the right candidate.
“We are hoping that our party will receive good response from the voters of the constituency,” state party president Shibun Lyngdoh said.
On the other hand, a Congress functionary said that they are still waiting for the details of the polling.
The PDF, which was supposed to be the second toughest contender in the polls, was not available for comments.
