By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 20: Political parties have got down to assessing their performance and possible outcome of the contest on June 4 to bag the Shillong and Tura Lok Sabha constituencies.
Polling for the two seats was conducted on Friday after an intense and aggressive campaign.
Preliminary analysis reports said the Congress and VPP candidates were neck and neck for the Shillong seat but the votes of the non-tribal people could bring the NPP into the mix. There are also indications that many opted for NOTA (none of the above).
In Tura, the political pundits have given an edge to Congress candidate Saleng Sangma, who gave a tough fight to incumbent MP Agatha Sangma of the NPP.
It is believed that the partnership with the BJP in Meghalaya may have backfired for the NPP.
The likelihood of a close finish in both constituencies increased because of an improvement in the turnout for Mandate 2024 compared to five years ago.
Meghalaya recorded 76.6% polling this time, which was 5.18% more than the 71.42% recorded in 2019.
The turnout for the Shilling parliamentary constituency this time was 73.78%, an increase of more than 8% from 65.48% in 2019.
On the contrary, the turnout in Tura dipped by 0.1% from 81.38% five years ago to 81.37% this time.
NPP’s Agatha Sangma is seeking re-election from the Tura seat, contesting against Saleng A Sangma of the Congress, TMC’s Zenith M Sangma and an independent.
In Shillong, three-time MP and state Congress chief, Vincent H Pala is seeking another term, and is pitted against VPP candidate Ricky AJ Syngkon, NPP’s Ampareen Lyngdoh, Robertjune Kharjahrin of the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) and two independent candidates.