SHILLONG, Sep 28: The National People’s Party (NPP) on Tuesday announced its candidates for Mawryngkneng and Rajabala constituencies for the upcoming bypolls scheduled on October 30.
Abdus Saleh will be the party’s candidate for Rajabala while Pyniaid Sing Syiem will be fielded from Mawryngkneng.
“We have kept the decision pending for Mawphlang,” NPP state president WR Kharlukhi said after his meeting with NPP national president and Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.
“We do have a candidate for Mawphlang and we will contest from all three constituencies,” he added.
Exuding confidence about bagging all three seats, Kharlukhi said the party is prepared and takes every election seriously.
Asked if the NPP expects a stronger challenge from the Congress under new state chief Vincent H. Pala, he said: “The stronger the opponent the better the fight.”
On Leader of the Opposition, Mukul Sangma’s prediction of a Congress sweep because of allegations of corruption and irregularities against the ruling dispensation, Kharlukhi said the polling on October 30 and the result on November 2 will make things clear.
Unlike the NPP, the United Democratic Party is yet to decide how many seats it would contest.
“We are soon going to decide whether or not to contest all three seats,” UDP president and Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh said.
“We have some candidates and we are waiting for confirmation from their end. It is a matter of a day or two,” he added.
People’s Democratic Front president, Banteidor Lyngdoh said, “A few have approached us for contesting Mawphlang and Mawryngkneng but we will weigh the winnability.”
“We don’t want to waste our time if none is in a position to win,” he added.
The Hill State People’s Democratic Party, on the other hand, has no plans to contest any of the three seats. A party member said there was no point in contesting the by-polls when the Assembly elections are not far away.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is focused on the Rajabala constituency only.
NPP faces rebellion in Rajabala
The decision of the NPP to allocate the party ticket to a former MLA Abdus Saleh for the Rajabala by-poll in West Garo Hills is churning an internal rebellion as livid supporters of another aspirant, Dr Mizanur Rahman Kazi, who was their candidate in the last 2018 assembly elections, raising voices of betrayal, our Tura correspondent reports.
Supporters of Dr Kazi had organised a large public meeting in Rajabala on Saturday, violating all existing covid protocols, to demand the party ticket in his favour.
Tuesday’s surprise announcement by the NPP leadership in Shillong to announce the name of Abdus Saleh has literally opened a pandora’s box for the October 30th by-elections to this crucial constituency of Rajabala in the plain belt region of West Garo Hills district.
While Saleh is a former teacher and Congressman turned NPP endorser, Dr Mizanur Rahman Kazi is a medical doctor by profession who was the official NPP candidate in the 2018 elections.
Interestingly, both were defeated in the 2018 contest, with Saleh coming behind then sitting legislator Ashahel D Shira in third position while Dr Mizanur had to contend with the fourth rank. The Rajabala seat was won by Congress’ Dr Azad Zaman who passed away from a cardiac arrest, early this year.
