UDP wins Shella seat in Meghalaya

United Democratic Party candidate Balajied Kupar Synrem won the by-poll to Shella Assembly constituency in Meghalaya by over 6000 votes, Election Commission officials said on Thursday.

UDP, which is part of the ruling alliance in the north eastern state, has retained the seat.

With this win, the UDP has now 9 MLAs in the 60-member Meghalaya seat.

The bye-election was necessitated due to the death of UDP president Donkupar Roy, who had represented the seat for a record seven times, earlier this year. Synrem is the son of Donkupar Roy.

Roy had last won the seat in 2018 by a slim margin of only 370 votes.

Synrem secured 12,002 votes while his nearest rival Independent candidate Grace Mary Kharpuri bagged 5,781 votes, chief electoral officer F R Kharkongor said.

The CEO said Mosjo R F Wanswett of the Peoples Democratic Front polled 4,327 votes while Batyngshain Ryngnga of the Congress secured 1,715 votes while Joshua Warjri of the BJP got 742 votes.

UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh, who is also the assembly speaker, congratulated Synrem on winning the seat.

"I congratulate the people of Shella for choosing Balajied as their representative in the Assembly. I am optimistic that he will emulate his father while serving his people and to strive towards overall development," Lyngdoh said.