Election underway for lone Rajya Sabha seat in Meghalaya

Shillong: The elections to the lone Rajya Sabha seat of Meghalaya kicked off at 9 am on Friday, with Kennedy Cornelius Khyriem of the Congress pitted against Dr WR Kharlukhi — the state president of National People’s Party (NPP) — as the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) candidate.

While speaking with EastMojo, Khyriem said that he has high hopes of winning the election. “This is an election where we [the candidates] can’t vote and have to depend on the vote of the MLAs. We have 19 and NPP has 22, and the rest of the legislators can vote whoever they want as they are not from NPP but just an alliance. We have spoken to the other MLAs; we will see what the results will be,” said Khyriem.

He also added that they have seen how Tura MP Agatha Sangma supported the CAB when it was tabled in Parliament. So, if they select an NPP candidate, they will have to agree with BJP since it is an alliance in Delhi, added Khyriem.

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Not wanting to say much, Dr WR Kharlukhi said that it is God’s will for him to win.

Leader of opposition Dr Mukul Sangma said that the results will be known by 5 pm and will show if the MLAs will be honest to the commitment they have made to the jaidbynriew.

While speaking with EastMojo, Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma said he was confident that the alliance will stay intact. Sangma said, “Absolutely not, we are all together and everybody has reiterated their commitment to the MDA and we are sure that we will win this election.”

The election which was scheduled for March 26 was deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic. The elections to the 18 RS seats are underway across seven states — Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.

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