In 2021, Vincent Pala was appointed chief of Congress party's Meghalaya unit
The Congress party has suffered several setbacks in Meghalaya since the last assembly election. In 2018, while the Congress could not form the government, it won 21 of the 60 assembly seats to emerge as the largest single party in the northeastern state.
With a number of its MLAs, including former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, switching over to other parties, the Congress is now left with no MLA in Meghalaya. The party is aiming to regain its lost political footprint in the state with high hopes from candidates like Lok Sabha MP Vincent Pala. Here are 5 points about him.
- Vincent Pala was elected to the 15th Lok Sabha after winning from the Shillong constituency in 2009. He won the seat again in 2014 and 2019. He held the post of Union Minister of State, Water Resources and Union Minister of State, Minority Affairs (Additional Charge).
- In 2021, the MP was appointed as the chief of Congress party's Meghalaya unit.
- Vincent Pala obtained a bachelor's degree in engineering from the University of North Bengal in 1990. The 55-year-old has worked as an assistant chief engineer in the public works department in Meghalaya.
- This year, Vincent Pala is contesting Assembly elections for the first time. He has been fielded from the Sutnga-Saipung Assembly constituency.
- Vincent Pala is one of the wealthiest candidates in the Meghalaya Assembly polls this year.
Meghalaya will go to the polls on February 27 along with Nagaland. The votes will be counted on March 2 for the three northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.