Shillong, May 7: The National People’s Party (NPP) today announced the candidature of D Rockyer Lyngdoh Nonglait as its candidate for the Shillong Lok Sabha by-election.
The announcement was made during the party’s general executive committee meeting here. Yesterday, news had leaked that Nonglait had accepted the proposal to run in the election on an NPP ticket.
Nonglait is a professor of Khasi at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU) and is also the president of the Khasi Authors’ Society (KAS).
Speaking today, Nonglait said that the NPP has done many things to bring development to Meghalaya, though not everything has been perfect. The last bit could probably have been meant to cover any criticisms he had previously expressed about the party.
“Every party has their own shortcomings and there’s no one party which is perfect,” Nonglait said while addressing the party members.
He said that over the years he has seen that society and governance has deteriorated and therefore he decided to join the NPP and contest the MP elections, with a “clear purpose to be the salt and the light”.
Nonglait said that he entered politics with the aim to include Khasi in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, to transform the education system from elementary to the higher secondary level, to uplift and spread higher and technical education.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, who is the NPP national president, said that he was confident that Nonglait will represent the interests of the state with dedication and be a strong voice for Meghalaya in Parliament.
Nonglait’s candidature can be seen in light of the choice of the Voice of the People Party (VPP), which has had some success in fielding academics. The incumbent Shillong MP, Ricky AJ Syngkon, had also been a NEHU professor before he was elected to Parliament in 2024. His sudden demise in February this year necessitated the by-election. The VPP has chosen another academic, Batskhem Myrboh, as its new candidate.
Compared to Syngkon, the NPP failed to find success in Ampareen Lyngdoh, an established politician, who finished third in the 2024 election. Nonglait has some public name recognition for pursuing the recognition of Khasi in the Eighth Schedule and the NPP may be hoping this will set him apart from the others in the race.
