SHILLONG, May 1: The National People’s Party (NPP) has initiated efforts to persuade Khasi Authors’ Society (KAS) president and NEHU faculty member, Prof DRL Nonglait, to contest as the party’s candidate in the upcoming by-election to Shillong parliamentary constituency.
A delegation led by NPP state working president Hamletson Dohling, along with presidents and secretaries of party units from seven districts of Khasi and Jaintia Hills, met Prof Nonglait at his residence in Lumshyiap Pdengshong on Friday evening.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Dohling said the visit was made at the behest of the party’s top leadership, including national president Conrad K. Sangma, state president Prestone Tynsong and national vice president Sniawbhalang Dhar, to formally request Prof Nonglait to consider contesting the by-election on an NPP ticket.
He informed that the party had initially discussed around four to five potential candidates for the seat, but Prof Nonglait’s name emerged as the frontrunner among them.
Dohling further stated that the move to approach him was also driven by strong recommendations and pressure from party leaders at the district level across the Khasi and Jaintia Hills region.
According to him, leaders from the seven districts had collectively urged the state leadership to prioritise approaching him as a preferred candidate.
“As a party, we respect the views of our district leaders. Their collective opinion was that Prof. Nonglait should be our first choice, and accordingly, we came to meet him and place our request,” Dohling said.
He added that the delegation presented their arguments and appealed to him to accept the offer, assuring full support from party units across the districts to secure victory in the by-election.
While acknowledging the positive response from him, Dohling said that he has not yet made a final decision.
“He has received us warmly and listened to our request, but he stated that he is not in a position to give an immediate decision. We understand his position, but have requested him to respond at the earliest, given the limited time before the election,” he said.
The NPP leader expressed hope that he (Prof Nonglait), whom he described as an experienced and capable individual, would agree to contest as the party’s candidate.
