The decks are cleared for a multi-corner contest for the Lok Sabha election from Shillong seat and a four-corner fight from Tura seat.
Nomination papers of all six candidates from Shillong seat and four from Tura seat were found valid during scrutiny of nomination papers held yesterday. The last date of withdrawal of candidature is tomorrow.
From Shillong seat, sitting MP and State Congress president Vincent H. Pala is seeking reelection for the fourth time.
Cabinet minister Ampareen Lyngdoh is contesting the Lok Sabha polls on the NPP ticket.
The Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA), an alliance between the UDP and the HSPDP, has fielded Robertjune Kharjahrin from the Shillong parliamentary seat. He will fight on the UDP symbol.
The opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) has nominated its general secretary Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon as its candidate.
NEHU Teachers’ Association president Lakhon Kma and Shillong-based lawyer Peter Shallam are also in the fray as independent candidates.
In Tura parliamentary constituency, sitting MP Agatha Sangma of NPP is pitted against Zenith Sangma, the brother of former chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma, who is sponsored by Trinamool Congress, sitting MLA Saleng Sangma of the Congress and independent candidate Labenn Ch Marak.
Meghalaya will vote in the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls on April 19. The other seats that are going to polls on the same day include thirty-nine seats of Tamil Nadu, 12 seats of Rajasthan, eight seats of Uttar Pradesh, six seats of Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Uttarakhand, Assam and Maharashtra, four seats of Bihar, three seats of West Bengal, two seats each in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep and Pondicherry.
The Lok Sabha elections are scheduled to be conducted in seven phases in the country, while the counting of votes will take place on June 4.
