Meghalaya: Who will be NPP’s candidate for Shillong Lok Sabha seat in 2024?

Sources said Meghalaya TMC vice president and former MLA George B Lyngdoh will be joining the NPP soon.

Brisk politicking has begun in Meghalaya ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections. The Conrad Sangma-led NPP is already working on its forward plans and it is likely that a few leaders from other parties would soon join the party. But at this juncture, the most pertinent question is – Who will be the NPP candidate from the prestigious Shillong Lok Sabha seat?

The buzz in the corridors of politics is that Meghalaya TMC Vice President and former Umroi legislator George B Lyngdoh is likely to resign from the party and contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on NPP ticket.

If sources are to be believed, the TMC leader has already held a series of meetings with the NPP leadership including Chief Minister and NPP national president Conrad Sangma over his ‘proposed switchover’. If given a ticket, Lyngdoh will be in the fray from the Shillong Lok Sabha seat, currently held by Congress’s Vincent Pala since 2009.

Without revealing much, NPP leader and deputy CM Sniawbhalang Dhar in response to this said, “NPP is still examining the candidates. So, don’t worry very shortly you will be knowing it.”

Political analysts feels that former Umroi legislator George B Lyngdoh is the choice of many NPP leaders for the Shillong seat. However, HM Shangpliang who switched over from the BJP to be a contender for an NPP ticket seems to be a ‘challenger’ of sorts for Lyngdoh.

Sniawbhalang Dhar was asked if the NPP has made a decision to give a ticket to HM Shangpliang. In his response the NPP leader said, “We are yet to decide. There are so many aspects. That is the character of the party, we have to follow.”

Significantly, Dhar clearly said that the party is looking for new faces to be pitted as its candidates.

When asked as to when the party will be able to finalize the list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, Dhar said, “We plan by the end of this month. We will see. We should be able to decided by the end of this month. We are looking for new faces.”

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Congress’s Vincent Pala had polled 4.19 lakh votes while MDA common candidate (backed by NPP) Jemino Mawthoh of the UDP managed to get only 2.67 lakh votes.

From the comments of NPP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar it seems that the NPP will field its own candidate in the 2024 elections. But there is no official statement made so far by the party.

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