SHILLONG, Oct 3: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday evening approved the list of candidates for the upcoming bye-elections to the three Assembly constituencies in Meghalaya.
According to the list, Highlander Kharmalki will contest from Mawryngkneng, Kennedy C. Khyriem from Mawphlang and Hashina Yasmin Mondal from Rajabala constituency.
There were two aspirants for Rajabala – Hashina Yasmin, the widow of 2018 election winner Azad Zaman and former MLA Ashahel D. Shira.
The decision to field Kharmalki from the Mawryngkneng seat was made two months ago while Member of District Council, Lamphrang Blah was angling for the Mawphlang seat.
Blah quit Congress and is set to join the National People’s Party on Tuesday after coming to know MPCC chief Vincent H. Pala favoured the candidature of former MLA Khyriem for the Mawphlang seat.
The Pradesh Election Committee (PEC) of the state Congress had on Saturday scrutinised the applications of the candidates and forwarded the names to the AICC for approval.
After the PEC meeting, Pala had said: “We have the best candidates, people have seen the performance of government and we have a base in each and every area and levels much better than any other candidates and so I am confident of a win.”
The PEC had earlier decided against recommending the name of senior party worker Norbert Myrboh, who had sought a party ticket for the Mawryngkneng seat at the last minute.
“All the members of the PEC were unanimous in their decision to reject the application of Myrboh since the party had already announced Kharmalki’s name,” a party leader said, declining to be quoted.
According to party insiders, senior Congress leader Charles Pyngrope had endorsed the decision of the PEC and said it would not be proper to accept Myrboh’s application.
Pyngrope, who had thrown his weight behind Kharmalki, said Myrboh should have applied earlier since the bypolls were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A majority of party workers and supporters are learnt to be unhappy with the decision to give the ticket to Kharmalki, who had contested the 2018 Assembly elections as a People’s Democratic Front candidate.
Kharmalki had allegedly told some senior leaders of the Mawryngkneng Block Congress Committee that they should take care of the party supporters since he would be focusing on his supporters.
Pyngrope is reportedly trying to persuade his supporters to respect the decision of the party. He is known to exercise clout in Mawryngkneng as he and his son David Nongrum had won the seat four times in a row. Nongrum’s death necessitated the bypoll.
