Meghalaya: Sitting MPs ousted; ruling NPP loses from its bastion in Tura

Meghalaya’s two sitting MPs, Vincent H Pala of the Congress, and Agatha K Sangma of the state’s ruling National Peoples’ Party, lost their seats

SHILLONG: Saleng A Sangma of the Congress and Ricky AJ Syngkon of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) were elected to the Lok Sabha from Meghalaya on Tuesday, defeating the state’s two sitting Lok Sabha members from Tura and Shillong constituencies, respectively.

Tura: Congress candidate Saleng A Sangma in traditional attires being greeted after he won in the Tura LS Constituency, in Tura. (PTI)

Ricky AJ Syngkon of the VPP, who won the Shillong seat, secured 571,078 votes, defeating three-time Congress MP Vincent H Pala by 371,910 votes. Pala polled 199,168 votes, followed by Meghalaya minister Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh of the state’s ruling National Peoples’ Party, who got 186,488 votes. NPP leads the state’s ruling coalition, Meghalaya Democratic Alliance 2.0, backed by the BJP.

In Tura, Congress’s Saleng A Sangma received 383,919 votes, wresting the seat from Agatha K Sangma of the ruling National People’s Party who polled 228,678 votes. Trinamool Congress candidate and former minister Zenith M Sangma came a distant third.

Syngkon pledged to fight corruption and poverty and attributed his win to the voters, saying they empowered him. “My victory today aligns with our expectations. We approached the people with a commitment to combat corruption and poverty. We are prepared to redouble our efforts to ensure our objectives are achieved,” he said.

The Congress’s Tura victory is considered significant because the seat is considered to be a bastion of the ruling NPP. Agatha Sangma is the sister of chief minister Conrad K Sangma.

Agatha secured over 2.28 lakh votes in the Lok Sabha constituency comprising 24 assembly constituencies.

Addressing his supporters, Saleng attributed the victory as a “blessing from God to the people of Garo Hills”. “These are indicators that people want change and that is what I intend to do. Together with our people, we will bring a change in entire Garo Hills,” he said.

Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma congratulated the two winners. ”We humbly accept and respect the mandate of the people and wish Mr Saleng A Sangma and Mr Ricky Andrew J Syngkon the very best”.