With electoral activity set to gather pace in Meghalaya, the National People’s Party is preparing to take crucial decisions on its candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election and the Shillong Parliamentary constituency bypoll. The by-election has been necessitated following the demise of sitting Member of Parliament from Shillong Parliamentary constituency Ricky A. J. Syngkon on February 19, 2026, with the vacancy arising less than two years after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the Voice of the People’s Party leader defeated Pala by a huge margin. At the same time, the tenure of Dr. Wanweiroy Kharlukhi, the current member of the Rajya Sabha representing Meghalaya and belonging to the National People’s Party, will end on June 21, 2026, with Dr. Kharlukhi having already made it clear that he will retire from politics after the completion of his tenure.
National People’s Party national president Conrad K Sangma on Friday said the party would soon finalise its candidates for both the Rajya Sabha election and the Lok Sabha by-election for the Shillong Parliamentary constituency.
Talking to media persons in Shillong, the NPP supremo said, “Now, we will be having the meeting very soon and the party will be finallizing candidates for both Rajya Sabha elections and Shillong Parliamentary constituency bye elections very very soon. So I would not like to make any comments right now, but the discussions have started and very soon as I said within a week or couple of weeks time, the party will make a decision on both Rajya Sabha elections and Shillong Parliamentary constituency bye elections (Lok Sabha).”
Responding to the BJP’s decision to contest the Lok Sabha by-election, Conrad Sangma said, “It’s okay, elections are fine, elections every party has their democratic right to contest. Yes, in a coalition we do expect that there will be some discussion prior, but it’s not always necessary that that we have to agree on all the aspects. I respect that every party has their own identity, I respect that they have their own constitution and their own right to contest democratically. And therefore, we not going to intervening into that. It’s the independence of the party, every party has a right to take decision.”
