By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 3: As expected, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance-II on Wednesday unanimously endorsed National People’s Party (NPP) leader James P.K. Sangma as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha election scheduled for June 18.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the leaders of MDA parties. Chief Minister and the coalition’s leader Conrad K. Sangma chaired the meeting.
Announcing the decision, MDA-II parliamentary party secretary and West Shillong MLA Paul Lyngdoh said the member parties had initially proposed different names from their political organisations for consideration. However, as no consensus emerged on a single candidate, the alliance resolved to adopt the established parliamentary convention of endorsing the proposal put forward by the NPP, the largest partner in the coalition.
The meeting was first briefed on the Rajya Sabha election schedule and the NPP’s position on the matter by the party’s national and state leadership. Following deliberations, all coalition partners agreed to support James as the official MDA-II nominee.
Speaking after the meeting, Conrad said the consensus reflected the collective decision of all alliance partners. He emphasised that the candidature should now be viewed as that of the MDA-II rather than any individual political party.
He clarified that the question of issuing a whip did not arise in the present context, as all constituent parties had agreed to back the alliance nominee. Any whip issued by individual parties would only direct their legislators to support the MDA-II candidate, he added.
The alliance also resolved to allow constituent parties to take independent decisions on the forthcoming by-election to the Shillong parliamentary seat. According to the resolution, parties will be free to contest, support another candidate, remain neutral or stay away from the by-poll.
James is scheduled to file his nomination papers at 2.30 pm on June 5. The meeting concluded with Conrad urging all alliance partners to work together to ensure the successful implementation of the decisions taken.
James expresses gratitude to MDA, partners
James expressed gratitude to the MDA-II and its constituents.
In a message posted on X, he described the decision as a humbling moment and thanked the NPP leadership and the MDA partners for reposing their trust in him. He said he was honoured by their unanimous support.
The MDA-II, comprising NPP, UDP, BJP, HSPDP and Independent legislators, had endorsed James’s candidature.
A former legislator from Dadenggre, he served as Home Minister and Power Minister in the previous MDA-I government. Although he suffered defeat in the 2023 Assembly elections, his nomination for the Rajya Sabha marks a return to frontline politics.
