The People’s Democratic Front (PDF) will not field a candidate for the Mawryngkneng by-election, it was informed today.
PDF legislator and cabinet minister Hamletson Dohling told reporters that the party does not have a candidate to contest the polls after Highlander Kharmalki defected to the Congress Party.
“We have discussed the matter with the leaders of the PDF zone in Mawryngkneng, who expressed hardship in finding another eligible candidate for the by-election on such short notice,” Dohling stated.
Kharmalki had unsuccessfully stood for the seat on a PDF ticket in the 2018 state election but lost out to the eventual winner, David Nongrum of the Congress. Nongrum’s sudden death in February necessitated the by-poll.
The PDF will not support any other party’s candidate but will leave it up to the people to choose their representative, Dohling added.