Meghalaya Election Results 2024 highlights: BJP-ally NPP loses both seats as INC, VPP register big wins

A non-member of the family of former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A. Sangma has bagged the Tura parliamentary seat in Meghalaya after 33 years.

Saleng A. Sangma of Congress defeated Purno Sangma’s daughter and two-time MP Agatha K. Sangma of the National People’s Party (NPP) by 1,55,241 votes. 

Saleng Sangma, an MLA in Meghalaya’s 60-member House, secured 3,83,919 votes while Agatha Sangma polled 2,28,678.

The NPP heads the coalition government in Meghalaya and is a key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the northeast. The NPP opted out of the Lok Sabha election in the two Arunachal Pradesh seats and the BJP reciprocated by not contesting the two constituencies in Meghalaya. 

The Tura seat had been with the Purno Sangma family since 1977 barring a two-year period from 1989-1991 when it was held by Sanford Marak of Congress. 

INC’s Saleng A. Sangma won the Tura seat, beating the ruling National People’s Party’s Agatha K. Sangma. Mr. Sangma won over 56% of votes while the incumbent NPP leader secured 33.93% of the votes. 

In Shillong, the regional Voice of the People Party’s Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon won by 3,71,910 votes, defeating former Union Minister Vincent H. Pala of Congress.

Less than three-year-old Voice of the People Party’s Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon dislodges former Union Minister Vincent H. Pala of Congress from Meghalaya’s Shillong seat by 3.71 lakh votes.

Photo Credit: PTI

The INC vs NPP fight in Tura has a verdict. Saleng A. Sangma won the Tura seat with 56.96% of votes. NPP’s Agatha K. Sangma trailed with 33.93% of votes (2.28 lakh), followed by AITC’s Zenith M. Sangma who won 7.23% of votes (48,709). 

With Mr. Sangma’s win, Congress has opened its account in the Northeast. The Tura seat in Meghalaya had been with Agatha K. Sangma’s family since 1977 barring the 1989-91 phase. Read more about NPP’s electoral calculus here.

The ruling National People’s Party (NPP) is trailing in both the Shillong and Tura seats, as of 3:30 p.m. 

Before results were announced, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma wrote on X, “We humbly accept and respect the mandate of the people and wish Mr Saleng A Sangma and Mr Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon the very best.” 

In Tura, INC’s Saleng A. Sangma leads with a margin of 1.55 lakh votes against NPP’s Agatha K. Sangma.

In Shillong, VPP’s Ricky Syngkon leads with 3.72 lakh votes, and NPP’s Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh trails with 17.92% of votes.

In Tura, INC’s Saleng A. Sangma maintains a lead of 1.55 lakh votes against incumbent NPP’s Agatha Sangma. 

The ruling NPP is trailing in both Tura and Shillong seats in the 2024 polls.

The VPP’s Ricky Syngkon has the lead in Shillong by more than 3.4 lakh voters, as of 12:50 p.m.

How are parties performing in other northeast States, which constitute 25 Lok Sabha seats? ​Take a look.​

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Elsewhere in the country, as of 11:30 a.m., the BJP leads in 236 seats, the Congress in 96 seats and the Samajwadi Party in 34. The AITC leads in 30, DMK in 21, Telugu Desam in 16 seats, followed by the Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena (UT).

For more, follow our live coverage here.

A decisive contest is unspooling in Meghalaya. In Shillong, the regional Voice of People’s Party has registered a lead of more than 180,000 votes, as of 11:10 a.m. Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon leads against INC’s Vincent H. Pala and NPP’s Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh.

In the family seat of Tura, Congress candidate Saleng A. Sangma of Congress leads by a margin of over 100,000 votes against ruling NPP’s Agatha K. Sangma.

Trend as of 9.45 a.m. suggests BJP ally National People’s Party, led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, is likely to suffer a setback in the ‘home base’ of Tura. Agatha K. Sangma is seeking her third term from Tura, a constituency that has been with her family since 1977 except for a two-year phase from 1989. Leading instead here is INC’s Saleng A. Sangma.

Early trend also underlines Voice of the People Party, leading by almost 50,000 votes in Shillong, is the new regional party to watch out for. The party leads against both three- time MP Congress’s Vincent H. Pala and the ruling NPP’s Ampareen Lyngdoh.

In Shillong, Voice of People Party’s Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon is leading against the incumbent, INC’s Vincent H. Pala. Also contesting the seat is National People’s Party’s Dr. Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh.

The constituency of Tura has INC in the lead, with Saleng A. Sangma leading against NPP’s Agatha K. Sangma and AITC’s Zenith M. Sangma.

Meghalaya is set to elect two members from the Tura and Shillong seats to the 18th Lok Sabha. 

The counting will commence at 8 a.m. across the 13 designated centres in the State, with 369 tables for Shillong and 244 tables for Tura, Chief Electoral officer B.D.R. Tiwari told media. 

“There would be a three-layer security, and nobody can take the law into their own hands,” Mr. Tiwari said. There are 2,000 counting officials on duty, along with 18 counting observers. The East Khasi Hill district has put Section 144 of the CrPC in force to avoid any untoward incident.

How does counting take place? Read here.

The elections were keenly fought between candidates from the Indian National Congress (INC), the National People’s Party (which allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party), United Democratic Party (UDP), Voice of the People Party (VPP) and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and other independent candidates. VPP, a regional party, has charted a meteoric rise since its birth before the 2023 Assembly elections. VPP’s community-based politics resonates among the State’s Khasi and Jaintia Hills populace. The VPP’s symbol is a winnowing tray. “We will separate the chaff from the grain,” a leader said at one of the rallies targeting the older parties. 

In Shillong, the incumbent Vincent H. Pala (INC) seeks a fourth straight term, fighting Health Minister Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh from NPP and Robertjune Kharjahrin from UDP. Other candidates include Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon of the VPP and Robertjune Kharjahrin of the UDP, the second-largest party in the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly. Five-time MLA, Ms. Lyngdoh switched over from the Congress to the NPP ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections. 

In Tura, incumbent Agatha Sangma (NPP) faces a challenge from INC’s Saleng A. Sangma and AITC’s Zenith Sangma, brother of the former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma. The seat was once held by Ms. Agatha Sangma’s late father, P.A. Sangma. NPP is also banking on BJP-led NDA’s support particularly in the Tura seat, The Hindu’sRahul Karmakar reported previously.

Should NPP’s candidates win, matrilineal Meghalaya would be India’s first State with more than one Lok Sabha seat to have all-women Members of Parliament. 

According to the India Today-Axis My India exit poll, The BJP-led NDA alliance will likely win between 0 to 1 seats, with the other going to a local party. Other projections have INC clinching 0-1 seat in the State.