TMC names 52 candidates for Meghalaya Assembly poll; Mukul Sangma to contest on two seats

Trinamool Congress on Friday released the first list of candidates for 52 out of 60 constituencies for the Assembly elections in Meghalaya slated for February.

The list includes eight MLAs and seven members of district councils.

Former CM and senior leader Mukul Sangma, who had joined TMC in November 2021 along with 11 other Congress MLAs, will contest the polls from two seats, Songsak and Tikrikilla. Sangma and Charlse Pyngrope, the president of TMC's Meghalaya unit are the two big faces in the list.

The list includes five women candidates. The list was announced at Shillong on Friday by Sangma and Pyngrope in the presence of other leaders of the party.

The party, however, did not name its CM candidate.

Releasing the list Mukul Sangma urged the voters to keep in mind the fact that Meghalaya's development has remained affected due to the trend of fractured mandate in the past. “We are expecting that people of the state will think about the secure future of Meghalaya. The state has really suffered because of the usually fractured mandate that has been the trend in Meghalaya. We will reach out to people to take into consideration the larger interest of people and the state," Sangma said.

Pyngrope said names of the remaining eight candidates would be announced soon.

Apart from Sangma and Pyngrope, six other MLAs are: Esmatur Mominin, Zenith M Sangma, Miani Dalbot Shira, Dikkanchi Dalbot Shira, Winnerson D Sangma and Lazarus M. Sangma.

Trinamool did not win a single seat in the 2018 Assembly elections but became the biggest opposition party in the Assembly after 12 MLAs led by Sangma joined the party. Sangma served as the CM twice between 2010 and 2018.