Northeast Desk, 26th June: Meghalaya’s Voice of the People Party (VPP) has announced that its Member of Parliament (MP), Ricky AJ Syngkon, will be absent from the election ceremony to decide the post of Speaker of Lok Sabha on June 26.
VPP chief Ardent Basaiawmoit stated that the party, which recently celebrated a historic victory in the Lok Sabha elections, will not support either the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or the INDIA bloc.
In contrast, Tura MP Saleng Sangma from the Congress will vote for the candidate fielded by the Congress-led INDIA alliance against the NDA’s candidate.
Both newly elected MPs from the state, Ricky Syngkon and Saleng Sangma, have engaged in meetings with their respective party leaders regarding the Speaker position.
Om Birla, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) candidate, will face K Suresh, the Opposition-led INDIA bloc’s contender, in the final vote on June 25.
This election, the first of its kind since 1976, will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh supporting Om Birla’s candidacy. Following a failed consensus between the NDA and the INDIA bloc, the latter fielded K Suresh against Om Birla.
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