SHILLONG, Nov 2: Meghalaya’s National People’s Party (NPP) and ally United Democratic Party (UDP) won all the three Assembly seats where bypolls were held on Saturday.
NPP candidates Pyniaid Sing Syiem and Mohammad Abdus Saleh won the Mawryngkneng and Rajabala seats while UDP’s Eugeneson Lyngdoh won Mawphlang seat defeating their Congress opponents — Highlander Kharmalki, Hashina Yasmin Mondal, and Kennedy Cornelius Khyriem, respectively.
Syiem won Mawryngkneng by a margin of 1,816 votes while his party colleague Saleh secured a victory margin of 1,926 votes in Rajabala. Lyngdoh won the Mawphlang seat by a margin of 4,401 votes.
Chief Minister and NPP President Conrad K. Sangma while congratulating the winners said that the elections showed that the people reposed trust and faith on the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government of which BJP is a partner.
The NPP had fielded candidates in all the three seats and won in two.
With Tuesday’s win, the NPP’s strength in the 60-member Assembly increased to 23, UDP’s to eight while People’s Democratic Front (PDF) has four, the BJP and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) two each and Congress has 17 legislators.
There are two Independents and two other local party MLAs in the house.
The bypolls were necessitated following the death of sitting MLAs — David A. Nongrum (Congress, Mawryngkneng), Azad Zaman (UDP, Rajabala), and Syntar Klas Sunn (Independent, Mawphlang).
IANS