Winnability is the criterion for selecting candidates for the Lok Sabhe elections, NPP president and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said here today.
He said screening for potential candidates for the Shillong Lok Sabha constituency have started. “It will be a democratic process where we will allow people to participate and share their desire to contest and then accordingly we will choose the candidate based on winnability and other factors,” he said.
The NPP president was however did not commit if Himalaya M Shangpliang who defected from BJP and joined NPP recently may get the party ticket. He said anybody who joins the party come without conditions and with an objective to serve the people. “If any individual in the party who would like to apply for the ticket they can apply,” he said.
On the Tura parliamentary seat, being held by his sister Agatha K Sangma, the NPP president said there is some consideration but the same process of screening by a committee will be applied.
On the possibility of former Dadenggre MLA and his elder brother, James K Sangma contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha reiterated that the same application and scrutiny process would apply to all individuals interested in seeking the party’s ticket.
Asked about the idea of a common candidate for the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, Sangma said that there is a desire for common candidate but said that depends on the respective parties as each have their own ideology and principles.
If the NPP will seek support from the MDA partners, he said, “We will discuss with everybody and then decide. We have not really gone so much into the discussion.”
