The byelections to two Assembly seats in Meghalaya on Thursday will be a race between the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) and the Opposition Congress to become the single-largest party. It will also decide if Conrad K. Sangma remains the Chief Minister of the hill State.
Mr. Sangma, an MP representing the Tura Lok Sabha seat, needs to win the South Tura Assembly seat for a berth in the 60-member House. His sister and former Union minister Agatha K. Sangma had vacated the seat for him. South Tura in West Garo Hills district is one of two Assembly constituencies going to the polls on Thursday. The other is Ranikor in West Khasi Hills district. The Ranikor seat had fallen vacant after five-time winner Martin K. Danggo resigned as a Congress MLA. He is now contesting as an NPP candidate from this seat, where local authorities have engaged young athletes as runners for relaying messages between at least five remote polling centres and the returning officer 6-40 km away.
The Congress has 20 seats in the State Assembly while the NPP, which heads the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government that includes the BJP, has 19. The NPP needs to win both seats to have the psychological advantage of becoming the single-largest party.
