Shillong, June 11 (IANS). National People’s Party (NPP)’s James Sangma was on Thursday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Meghalaya. No other candidate filed nomination for the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat.
The election for this seat was proposed on June 18. However, due to James Sangma being the only candidate, Meghalaya Assembly Secretary and Returning Officer Malthus Sangma declared him elected unopposed on the last date of withdrawal of nominations.
Senior NPP leader and former state minister James Sangma met Chief Minister Conrad K. He was the official candidate of the ruling MDA-2 government led by Sangma.
After the election, James Sangma thanked the MLAs and the leadership of the ruling coalition and said that he will effectively represent the interests of Meghalaya in the Parliament and strongly raise issues related to the development and public welfare of the state.
This biennial election became necessary because the tenure of sitting Rajya Sabha MP Dr. Vanweiroy Kharlukhi is ending this month. Dr. Kharlukhi, also of NPP, is completing his six-year term in June and had reportedly expressed his desire to distance himself from active parliamentary politics after the end of his term.
The Election Commission had earlier released the election schedule, under which notification was issued on June 1, June 8 was the last date for nomination, June 9 was set for scrutiny of nomination papers and June 11 was the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Voting and counting of votes was to take place on June 18.
The NPP-led ruling coalition has a clear majority in the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly, making its victory on this Rajya Sabha seat almost certain. Since no candidate from the opposition fielded, James Sangma got elected to the Upper House without voting.
With an uncontested win, James P.K. Sangma will represent Meghalaya in the Rajya Sabha for the next six years. He will succeed Dr Wanweiroy Kharlukhi and further strengthen the NPP’s presence in Parliament.
–IANS
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