Meghalaya CM wins by-election, defeats Congress
Tura (Meghalaya), Aug 27 : Meghalaya Chief Minister and National Peoples Party (NPP) candidate Conrad Sangma on Monday won the by-election from the South Tura Assembly constituency by a huge margin.
But former Speaker Martin Danggo, who resigned from the Congress and joined the NPP, lost to Pius Marweiñ of the United Democratic Party (UDP) in Ranikor constituency.
The by-election in South Tura was necessitated after Agatha Sangma resigned to pave the way for her brother Conrad to contest in order to retain the the post of Chief Minister.
Conrad, the youngest son of the late Purno A. Sangma, defeated Charlotte W. Momin of the Congress by 8,421 votes in a four-cornered contest.
The NPP candidate secured 13,656 votes while Charlotte got 5,235 votes. Conrad, who was sworn as the 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya on March 6, was a non-elected member to the 60-member assembly.
"I won because people voted for development," Conrad told IANS.
Conrad assumed the top post of Meghalaya, which is father had held for a short period, after the regional United Democratic Party (UDP), People's Democratic Front and Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) decided to support the NPP in forming the government on condition that a NPP leader would be the Chief Minister.
In Ranikor, Danggo, who had represented Ranikor constituency five consecutive times, lost to novice Pius Marweiñ of UDP by 2,896 votes.
Marweiñ polled 13,183 votes while Danggo bagged 10,287. People's Democratic Front candidate P.N. Syiem and Jackiush A. Sangma of the Congress secured 1,978 and 938 votes respectively.
Both the UDP and PDF are part of the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance coalition government. With this victory, the NPP and UDP have increased their strength to 20 and eight respectively in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly.
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Speaker Om Birla to inaugurate CPA India Region meet in Panaji on Thursday
New Delhi (PTI): Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will inaugurate a two-day conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region in Panaji on Thursday.
The conference of Zone-7 of the CPA aims to strengthen parliamentary cooperation, promote exchange of best practices and deliberate on key development priorities of the region, according to an official statement.
The dignitaries will deliberate on subjects such as "The Role of Young Legislators in Achieving the Goal of a Developed India by 2047" and "Priorities of Zone-7 in Trade, Tourism, Urbanisation, Environment and Coastal Connectivity", among others.
The CPA India Region Zone-7 comprises the legislatures of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
This will be the first conference of Zone-7 after the CPA India Region was restructured into nine zones in 2024.
Currently, the speaker of the Gujarat legislative assembly serves as the chairperson of CPA India Region Zone-7.
The valedictory session on April 10 will be graced by Goa Governor Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju, along with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairman Ram Shinde, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar, and Gujarat Assembly Speaker Shankarbhai Chaudhary will also address the dignitaries.
Besides, the presiding officers of the legislatures of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Telangana, the Union minister and MPs from Goa, and legislators from the three member states will also attend the conference, the statement said.
