Shillong, Oct 4: Jowai South MDC Moonlight Pariat has made his intention to contest the Jowai Assembly constituency seat in 2028 and hopes that running on a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket will ensure his reelection.
Pariat joined the BJP on Saturday. He ran as an independent in the 2025 Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) election. This is his sixth term as an MDC and he has even held the post of Chief Executive Member in the past.
However, he has not had the same level of success while contesting for the Meghalaya Assembly. In 2018 and 2023 he ran on a United Democratic Party (UDP) ticket and lost on both occasions to the National People’s Party (NPP) candidate, Wailadmiki Shylla.
Pariat was disinclined to rejoin the UDP, unsurprisingly given how much disarray it is in at present.
“With UDP, UDP is very weak. But with BJP, I will be much stronger than before,” Pariat said when asked by reporters.
With his joining, the BJP now has representation in the JHADC. The saffron party had recently strengthened its presence in Meghalaya by wooing eight MLAs from the UDP to join it.
