Politics / Meghalaya

SHILLONG, May 13 – Meghalaya has reposed its faith in two MPs of the dissolved Parliament with both, Purno Sangma, the All-India Trinamool Congress leader, and Congress nominee PR Kyndiah retaining Tura and Shillong constituencies respectively, reports PTI. Sangma, who contested from his home constituency – Tura – for the eighth time in a row now, defeated his Congres rival Mukul Sangma in a straight fight by a margin of 72,763 votes.

The former Lok Sabha speaker, who sought re-election this time on the AITC ticket after losing his Nationalist Congress Party symbol to the Sharad Pawar group...

TURA, May 13 – Poll predictions of a close fight between sitting MP from Tura, Purno A Sangma, contesting on an All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) ticket, and Dr Mukul M Sangma, of the Indian National Congress (INC) proved otherwise with the veteran MP defeating his Congress opponent by a margin of 75,269 votes. However, unlike earlier elections when P A Sangma had won by record margins of over a lakh votes this time it was reduced. In the last LS election Purno Sangma had defeated his nearest rival Atul C Marak of the Congress by a margin of one lakh thirty thousand votes. The much reduced...

Shillong, May 9: Cross with its allies in the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance for ganging up against partyman P.R. Kyndiah in Shillong, the Congress has begun scouting for new partners. Though chief minister D.D. Lapang is determinedly mum on the subject, the marriage between the Congress and the regional bloc comprising the United Democratic Party (UDP), the Meghalaya Democratic Party (MDP) and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) is on the rocks.

A source said the Congress was likely to annul its alliance with the three regional parties after the announcement of the Lok...

SHILLONG, May 9 : Political rift within the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) coalition is growing, with post-poll mudslinging between the regional parties and the Congress having become a routine affair. Fissures within the Congress-led coalition had become apparent in the run-up to the recently held Lok Sabha elections in the State, with the regional parties and the Congress, all partners in the ruling coalition, fielding separate candidates for the Shillong parliamentary constituency.

Prominent regional parties – United Democratic Party (UDP), Meghalaya Democratic Party (MDP)...

Shillong, May 8: The controversial closure of saw mills and the mushrooming of “illegal” toll gates in and around Meghalaya have kicked up a storm in the corridors of the Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government. Two organisations, the Joint Action Committee of Commercial Organisations and the Meghalaya Land and Forest Owners Association, have set Thursday and Friday as deadlines for the government to redress the problems or face agitation.

The committee yesterday served a fresh ultimatum to the government, asking it to demolish all “illegal tollgates that have sprung up in all...

SHILLONG, May 8 – A new terrorist outfit by the name and style of the ‘Pnar Liberation Army’ (PLA) has emerged in the trouble-torn state of Meghalaya, police sources have indicated. The recent killing of an unidentified militant in Tibong village, near Damcherra in Cachar Hills district, has indicated the birth of the new outfit named after the Pnar (Jaintia) tribal Community, Director General of Meghalaya Police L Sailo told reporters. Tthe formation of the organisation could be due to the ongoing communal unrest in Cachar Hills district, in which people belonging to the Khasi-Pnar community...

SHILLONG, May 4 – Denying any rift among the five partners of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) in the wake of fielding separate candidates for the April 20 Lok Sabha polls in the Shillong constituency, Chief Minister D D Lapang has claimed the coalition was ‘intact,’ reports PTI.

“The fact remians that the we have started together and we stick to that. We got no complaints and petitions (about misunderstandings among the allies).... MDA is intact,” Lapang told reporters here yesterday on a question of a possible rift in the ruling coalition. Lapang said the alliance partners...

Shillong, May 3: The construction company that sued the Meghalaya government for scrapping a lucrative real estate deal is close to signing a new contract to redevelop the same property as part of an out-of-court settlement. Chief minister D.D. Lapang today defended the decision to allow Asian Housing Construction Ltd (AHCL) to “rebuild” Calcutta’s Meghalaya House, saying critics of his government should realise that it is the only way to avoid paying a hefty amount as compensation.

“I am very clear about it and do not want anyone to make an issue out of it. We have to come out of the legal...

SHILLONG, May 2 – Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang today attributed the low voter turnout in the state in Lok Sabha polls to the less importance people attached to parliamentary elections compared to the assembly ones, reports PTI.

"We are yet to create an awareness among the people that Lok Sabha election is as important as the Assembly ones," Lapang told reporters.

It was evident from the low voter turnout of about 54 per cent in the state for the April 20 hustings, he said. The Chief Minister's statement assumed significance as the campaigning particularly in the Shillong Lok Sabha...

TURA, April 12 – In what is being seen as an attempt to gain the upper hand by either of the two parties, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), in the run-up to the April 20 Parliamentary elections at Tura, each have accused the other of poll violations and character assasinations while trying to woo the voters of the three districts of Garo Hills.

Purno Sangma’s campaigners have accused the Opposition Congress of targetting the former Speaker with an array of character assasination campaigns. They filed a complaint with the Returning Officer for Tura...