Meghalaya: BJP-ally NPP loses both seats as INC, VPP register big wins

Guwahati: In yet another major upset in northeastern state of Meghalaya, Congress candidate Saleng A. Sangma has won the Tura seat, beating the ruling National People’s Party’s Agatha K. Sangma. Mr. Sangma won over 56 percent of votes while the incumbent NPP leader secured 33.93 percent of the votes.

It is significant that after 33 years a non-member of the family of former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A. Sangma was elected from the Tura parliamentary seat in Meghalaya. Saleng A. Sangma of Congress defeated Purno Sangma’s daughter and two-time MP Agatha K. Sangma of the National People’s Party (NPP) by 1,55,241 votes.

Saleng Sangma, an MLA in Meghalaya’s 60-member House, secured 3,83,919 votes while Agatha Sangma polled 2,28,678.

In Shillong, the regional Voice of the People Party’s Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon dislodged former union minister Vincent H. Pala of Congress by 3,71,910 votes.

The BJP ally ruling NPP conceded defeat in both Tura and Shillong seats earlier in the day. “We humbly accept and respect the mandate of the people,” wrote Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma in his social media post.

The NPP heads the coalition government in Meghalaya and is a key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the northeast. The NPP opted out of the Lok Sabha election in the two Arunachal Pradesh seats and the BJP reciprocated by not contesting the two constituencies in Meghalaya.

The Tura seat had been with the Purno Sangma family since 1977 barring a two-year period from 1989-1991 when it was held by Sanford Marak of Congress.