The moves for opposition unity under the INDIA bloc ahead of the Lok Sabha elections fell through in Meghalaya as the Congress party went ahead in announcing candidates for the Shillong and Tura parliamentary seats.
Although both Congress and Trinamool Congress were part of the INDIA bloc, they failed to agree on seat sharing in Meghalaya.
Today, the Congress high command officially released the first list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May this year.
As per the list for Meghalaya, sitting MP Vincent H. Pala will contest from the Shillong seat while party MLA Saleng A. Sangma will contest from Tura seat.
The first list of Congress candidates includes nominees for constituencies in Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana.
The Trinamool Congress had earlier demanded the Tura seat which comprises 24 Assembly constituencies since the party did well in Garo Hills region than the Congress in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The Trinamool Congress argued that it won five Assembly seats in Meghalaya, four of which are from Garo Hills. It also said that it was the runner-up in ten seats. The party also stated that Congress did not win any seat from Garo Hills.
Further, the Trinamool Congress stated that its vote share in several Assembly seats in Garo Hills was much more than that of the Congress and that is why it wanted to contest from the Tura seat.
However, with today’s announcement of the first list of candidates, both Congress and Trinamool Congress are set to contest against each other in both Shillong and Tura seats.
Yesterday, the Trinamool Congress announced the formation of its election committee in Meghalaya with State party president Charles Pyngrope as chairman and party MLA Miani D. Shira as secretary.
The nine-member committee has been set up to prepare for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
