Purno Sangma's younger son to contest Tura bypoll

Shillong: Conrad Sangma, the younger son of former Lok Sabha speaker Purno Sangma, is likely to contest the bypoll to Tura Lok Sabha seat in Meghalaya, necessitated by the death of his father and sitting MP last month, party sources said on Tuesday.

Conrad Sangma will stand on a ticket of his father's National People's Party (NPP), according to the sources.

Though a party meeting is scheduled to be held on April 22 to select its candidate for the seat, it is learnt that Conrad, a former Meghalaya legislator, is most likely to be given the ticket. Conrad's elder brother, James Sangma, is a sitting lawmaker in the northeastern state.

Before Purno Sangma, who won the seat in the 2014 general elections, the Tura constituency was represented by his daughter Agatha Sangma, who was a union minister in the UPA-II government.

Bypolls to the Tura parliamentary constituency and nine assembly constituencies in seven states will be held on May 16, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.