LS bypoll: Senior lawyer to contest as UDP candidate

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, May 27: The United Democratic Party (UDP) is all set to announce senior lawyer V.G.K. Kynta as its candidate for the upcoming by-election to the vacant Shillong Parliamentary seat.

The party is scheduled to formally announce Kynta’s name on Thursday.

Party sources said the decision on Kynta’s candidature had been finalised a few weeks ago but the announcement was delayed as the UDP wanted to place his name before the Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA), which comprises the UDP and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP).

According to sources, leaders of the RDA met on Monday, during which both parties endorsed the proposal to field Kynta as the alliance’s common candidate for the by-election.

With the UDP’s announcement, the upcoming bypoll is set to witness a multi-cornered contest among the VPP’s Batskhem Myrboh, NPP’s D.R.L. Nonglait, Congress’s Vincent H. Pala and the UDP candidate.

The BJP is also poised to nominate its candidate for the electoral contest with as many as nine aspirants vying for the party ticket.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Shillong, the UDP had put up Robertjune Kharjahrin as its candidate but he managed to secure only the fourth position behind Ricky A.J. Syngkon (the eventual winner), Vincent H. Pala (Congress) and Ampareen Lyngdoh (NPP).