GUWAHATI: Meghalaya Chief Minister and president of National People's Party (NPP), Conrad Sangma, won the by-election to South Tura seat, the results of which were declared on Monday.
The victory was sweet for Sangma in that he had to win the by-election to be able to continue as the CM. He had donned the CM's mantle after the National People's Party-led (NPP) Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) formed the government in March this year. He was then serving as the Tura MP.
His sister Agatha Sangma, who represented the South Tura seat, had resigned last month to make way for him. She is now expected to contest next year's Lok Sabha polls. Sangma defeated his nearest rival Charlotte W Momin of the Congress by 8,421 votes, the state's chief electoral officer FR Kharkongor told TNIE.
Following Sangma's victory, his NPP is tied with Congress at 20 seats each in the 60-member Meghalaya House. Sangma polled 13,656 votes as against 5,235 votes by Momin. In the by-election to Ranikor seat held simultaneously, the United Democratic Party (UDP), which is a constituent of MDA, won. UDP's Pious Marwein defeated his nearest rival Martin M Danggo of the NPP. In the Assembly elections of February this year, Danggo had won on Congress's ticket. He resigned in June to be with NPP.