File photo of Congressional leader Vincent H. Pale. | Photo credit: VV KRISHNAN
The beleaguered Congress is hoping to put its electoral debacle in Assam behind it and return to winning ways in the northeastern region, which will be one of its lucky hunting grounds.
The Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee on Thursday (May 14, 2026) approved the name of its president Vincent H. Pal as the party’s candidate for the upcoming Shillong Lok Sabha by-election.
Mr. Pala represented the constituency for 15 years before Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon of the Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) defeated him in the 2024 polls by a margin of more than 3.71 million votes. The seat became vacant after Syngkon’s death on February 19 after he collapsed while playing football in the suburbs of Shillong.
It is expected by August
Chief Electoral Officer BDR Tiwari said his department is ready and waiting for the schedule announced by the Election Commission. By-elections are expected in August.
“District and block level leaders have proposed my name as a candidate. The proposal will be sent to our party’s central leadership for a final decision,” said Pala, hoping to win the Shillong seat, where the Congress held a 26-year hold from 1998 to 2024.
An engineer turned politician, he served as a Union Minister from 2009 to 2012.
The VPP nominated academician Batskhem Myrboh as its candidate for the constituency. At the same time, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP) nominated scholar and president of the Khasi Authors’ Society, DRL Nonglait.
Two other parties, the United Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, are yet to decide whether to contest the by-election or not. Both are part of the ruling coalition led by JE in Meghalaya.
Once the dominant political entity, the Congress is struggling to survive in Meghalaya. The party won five of the 60 Assembly seats in the state in 2023, but four of them defected to JE, while the fifth – Saleng A. Sangma – became an MP after winning the Tura Lok Sabha seat the following year.
Published – 15 May 2026 18:09 IST
