Jaiaw to see a battle of Lyngdohs

It is being termed as the “battle of urban legends” and everyone is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the contest...

It is being termed as the “battle of urban legends” and everyone is eagerly awaiting the outcome of the contest between former Khasi Students Union (KSU) president and Urban Affairs Minister Paul Lyngdoh and former finance minister and Congress candidate A H Scott Lyngdoh for the prestigious Jaiaw seat in the forthcoming polls.

In the 2003 Assembly polls, Paul Lyngdoh — who formed the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement party after resigning from the KSU — defeated veteran politician and Meghalaya Democratic Party candidate Scott Lyngdoh. A two-time MLA, Scott Lyngdoh went into a cocoon after his defeat.

However, Scott Lyngdoh has now emerged from his political sanyas to contest as a Congress candidate and reclaim his lost political domain from the younger Lyngdoh. The Jaiaw seat was earlier a Congress stronghold as Union Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah had held it for three consecutive terms since 1978. In 1993, Scott Lyngdoh — who had contested as United Democratic Party candidate — broke the Congress stronghold by defeating its candidate Martamlin Pyrbot. He retained the seat in 1998.

In the polls, Jaiaw will witness a straight contest between the two Lyngdohs, despite the presence of a third one — Independent candidate Augustine Paul Lyngdoh. Paul Lyngdoh, who filed his nomi-nation papers on Wednesday, claimed he was going to retain the seat.