Sangma's daughter wins Tura LS bypoll

Agatha K Sangma of the Nationalist Congress Party on Sunday won the Tura parliamentary bypoll defeating the Congress candiate Zenith Sangma by a margin of 99,855 votes.

The seat fell vacant after Agatha's father and former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Agitok Sangma resigned following his election as a member of the legislative assembly two months ago.

Agatha was the consensus candidate of ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance that comprises five parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Of the total 310,091 votes polled, Agatha bagged 181,760 while her nearest Congress rival got 81,905 votes. At 27, Agatha, a Delhi-based lawyer, is one of the youngest members of Parliament. Agatha is the fourth from the Sangma family to join public life after her nine-time parliamentarian father and chairman of the State Planning Board successfully launched his two sons-- Conrad and James -- in the last assembly election.