Meghalaya bypolls: Ruling NPP wins 2 Assembly seats, ally UDP bags 1

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaNovember 2, 2021

In a boost to the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) won the Mawryngkneng and Rajabala seats while its main ally United Democratic Party (UDP) bagged the Mawphlang seat with a huge margin.

The opposition Congress however suffered a major setback as it not only fail to retain the Mawryngkneng and Rajabala seats but lost in the Mawphlang seat.

Elections to the three Assembly seats were held on October 30, the results of which were declared on Tuesday.

Sitting MDC of Sohryngkham Pyniaid Sing Syiem won the Mawryngkneng seat by defeating his closest rival, Highlander Kharmalki of the congress by a margin of 1,816.

Syiem, who is also the Chairman of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), secured a total of 14,177 votes.

However, Kharmalki, who was backed by senior Congress leader, Charles Pyngrope, father of the former MLA (L) David A Nongrum, got only 12,361 votes.

In the Rajabala seat, NPP candidate Abdus Saleh defeated Congress nominee and wife of former MLA Dr Azad Zaman, Hashina Yasmin Mondal by a margin of 1,926 votes.

He won by getting 11,823 votes while Mondal on the other hand managed to secure 9,897 votes.  

Meanwhile, football star Eugeneson Lyngdoh of the UDP was elected as the new Mawphlang legislator after defeating Congress nominee Kennedy C Khyriem by a margin of 4,401.

He retained the seat which his father (L) SK Sunn held for three and a half years after being elected for first time in 2018, by getting 13,285 votes. Khyriem, who is also former Mawphlang MLA, got only 8,884.

Two sitting MDCs came third in the bye elections from Rajabala and Mawphlang constituencies.

GHADC member and former MLA Ashahel D Shira  of the UDP got only 7,247 votes in the Rajabala bye election while KHADC member and former leader of opposition Lamphrang Blah of the ruling NPP got only 5,103 votes.

It was also setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when its candidate Kingstone B Marak forfeited his security deposit in the Rajabala bypoll by getting only 333 votes.

The three independent candidates who contested the Mawryngkneng seat include Norbert Marboh, who got 1,400 votes, Erson Marwein got 485 votes and Arbiangkam Kharsohmat got only 214 votes while 238 voted for NOTA.

202 voted for NOTA in Mawphlang while 174 voters pressed the NOTA button in Rajabala.

The overall poll percentage for the three constituencies was recorded at 83.45 per cent.