Expressing confidence in retaining the Shillong Parliamentary seat, VPP spokesperson Dr Batskhem Myrboh on Tuesday said the party wave remains strong in the constituency, as the Voice of the People Party (VPP) named him its nominee for the Shillong Parliamentary Constituency bye-election.
The bye-election has been necessitated following the untimely demise of sitting Member of Parliament Dr Ricky A. J. Syngkon on February 19, 2026. The party’s Election Committee has submitted its recommendation proposing Dr Myrboh’s candidature to the State Executive Committee, with formal approval awaited.
The vacancy comes less than two years after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Dr Syngkon of the VPP defeated three-time Congress MP Vincent H. Pala by a margin of 3,71,910 votes, marking a significant shift in the political landscape of the constituency.
Framing his candidature as both an honour and a responsibility, Dr Myrboh said, “First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the party for expressing the confidence in my capability to Contest the bye elections which is necessiate by the sudden demise of sitting Member of Parliament Dr Ricky AJ Syngkon. As a loyal and foot soldier of the party, I am very greatful to the party and my assurance to the party is that to do my level best to ensure that and to see that the party ‘s ideology, party ‘s discipline, the party’s principle and the party’s vision for the state would be upheld.”
Projecting organisational continuity and highlighting the party’s engagement with the electorate since 2022, he asserted that public support remained firm. “We are very confident about that (VPP’s wave) that the people are with us. Because from 2022, We have been serving the people in the best way we can, Then after the MP election also our beloved Dr Ricky AJ Syngkon he did his level best and rather he sent a high benchmark for every party who comes after him. Even our MDCs also they are very committed to the cause of the people and judging from what we have been doing With the issues and the services to the people, I am confident that the people are with us and we will be able to get a big victory,” he said.
At the same time, he underlined that the party would approach the contest with seriousness. “But having said that, we don’t take any election lightly. Any election is an election and it has a own Dynamics. we have to take seriously. Yes, I would say that even I myself when I go to vote, I will remember Dr Syngkon. It will be rather an emotional day for me to y go and vote in the election.”
Acknowledging the emotional context of the by-poll, he added, “It will be rather an emotional date for me to you know go and put and you know only election. I believe that people have love and affection for the party, and also for the future of the state because the vision of the party is for the welfare of the state.”
While sentiment is expected to shape the tenor of the campaign, Dr Myrboh maintained that voters would ultimately weigh performance, commitment and the party’s vision for the State as the bye-election approaches.
