The United Democratic Party (UDP)'s candidate Synshar Lyngdoh Thabah has won the Sohiong Assembly seat in East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya, defeating the National People's Party (NPP)'s nominee Samlin Malngiang by over 3,400 votes. Thabah reportedly garnered 16,679 votes with about 51 % vote share as against Malngiang's 13,176 votes with 41.22% votes. There were six candidates in the fray, but the rest of them ended up far behind with the BJP’s Serapth Eric Kharbuki getting just 40 votes with 0.12% votes polled. The election to the Sohiong constituency was countermanded during the Meghalaya Assembly elections, held in February this year, because of the death of the UDP’s then candidate HDR Lyngdoh. With this victory, the regional party UDP's tally has risen to 12 in the 60-member state Assembly, which is double its number in the previous House. The outcome of this poll will however not have any impact on the NPP-headed Meghalaya coalition government led by Chief Minister and NPP president Conrad Sangma as the UDP is also part of it along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), People’s Democratic Front (PDF), and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP). This ruling coalition, called Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) 2.0, was formed after the Assembly elections in which the NPP emerged as the single-largest party with 26 seats while stopping short of a simple majority by 5 seats. The UDP is the second largest constituent of the NPP-led coalition government. Even during the previous Conrad Sangma-led government, the UDP was its ally.
