Meghalaya chief minister wins by-election, defeats Congress

TURA: Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) candidate Conrad Sangma on Monday won the by-election from the South Tura Assembly constituency by a huge margin.

But former Speaker Martin Danggo, who resigned from the Congress and joined the NPP, lost to Pius Marwein of the United Democratic Party (UDP) in Ranikor constituency.

The by-election in South Tura was necessitated after Agatha Sangma resigned to pave the way for her brother Conrad to contest in order to retain the post of Chief Minister.

Conrad, the youngest son of the late Purno A Sangma, defeated Charlotte W Momin of the Congress by 8,421 votes in a four-cornered contest.

The NPP candidate secured 13,656 votes while Charlotte got 5,235 votes.

Conrad, who was sworn as the 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya on March 6, was a non-elected member of the 60-member Assembly.

“I won because people voted for development,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Conrad on his win, saying: “Congratulations for the win from South Tura, Chief Minister! Best wishes in your endeavours to take Meghalaya to new heights of growth.”

Conrad assumed the top post of Meghalaya, which his father had held for a short period, after the regional parties decided to support the NPP in forming the government.