Trinamool to announce candidates next month

SHILLONG, Oct 13: The opposition Trinamool Congress will release its first list of candidates for the 2023 Assembly polls by the end of November.
Making the announcement on Thursday, Meghalaya TMC president Charles Pyngrope said, “We should have the first list ready by the end of November. It will be in our interest to ensure that the candidates get ample time to reach out to the public.”
Asked if the TMC will field candidates in all the 60 constituencies, he said, “Our intention is to go for all 60 but we just don’t want to select candidates who may not have the capacity to serve the people. So we have to be a little selective in the process.”
He made it clear that all sitting MLAs will get the ticket.
To a query on some sitting party MLA looking for greener pastures elsewhere, Pyngrope said, “We have not got any information.”
He said TMC was open to the idea of post-poll alliances with “like-minded parties”. Countering the narrative that TMC was yet to get a foothold in the Khasi-Jaintia region, he said, “This is a narrative which is prevalent in any political party. The NPP does not have a solid ground in most constituencies and neither does the UDP or any other political party. But considering that we are a new party with having base in every constituency no matter how big or small is an indication that people are accepting us and as the days goes by the acceptance of the public is growing by leaps and bounds,” he added.