Shillong: Opposition Hill State Democratic Party (HSPDP) today retained the Nongstoin Assembly seat in Meghalaya defeating ruling Congress candidate by a margin of over 2,700 votes in the November 21 bypoll.
This is the second loss for the ruling Congress in a span of one month after it lost badly in the Garo tribal council elections held last month.
HSPDP candidate Diostar Jyndiang won the bye-election by a margin of 2,763 votes over rival Congress candidate Gabriel Wahlang to retain the seat held by its former president for a very long time.
While Jyndiang secured a total of 11,179 votes, Congress candidate secured a total of 8,416 votes.
The lone woman contesting the bye-election, Fenella Nonglait, secured 3,128 votes and the Opposition United Democratic Party candidate Mosklandar Marngar secured 1,257 votes only.
The ruling Congress also lost badly in the Garo tribal autonomous council elections last month winning only seven of the 29 seats they contested even as the NDA allies, the National People's Party (NPP), claimed maximum seats to form the executive committee.
In the Meghalaya Assembly, the ruling Congress has 30 members, the UDP has eight, the HSPDP four while NCP and NPP have two members each. The rest are Independents.
