Wansuk gets 2nd term as Rajya Sabha MP

SHILLONG, JAN 31: Wansuk Syiem, Rajya Sabha MP and Congress nominee, was on Friday declared elected unopposed to the upper house of the parliament making this the second stint for the only lady MP who had ever been elected to the Rajya Sabha.

In the last term she had been elected during the by-election after the then sitting Rajya Sabha MP Thomas A Sangma had resigned early last year to contest the assembly elections as the NPP candidate but lost. Syiem had only ten months as the MP to the upper house last year, but this time she gets the full term.

Meghalaya legislative assembly secretary H Mylliemngap, who is also the returning officer for the Rajya Sabha election, declared Syiem as the elected to the Rajya Sabha. The Election Commission of India had declared January 31 as the last date for withdrawal of candidature.

Syiem was the only candidate to file the nomination papers for the lone Rajya Sabha seat as the opposition decided not to put up any candidate for lack of numbers.

The fifty-seven year-old former member of the National Commission for Women had studied till matriculation, before officially joining the Congress party in Meghalaya. During her innings with her party she had hold many important party positions.

Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma, who is in Garo hills, sent her a congratulatory message on being elected to the Upper House for the second time.

Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee president D D Lapang and other senior party leaders received Syiem as she came out of the office of the returning officer after being declared elected.

Speaking to reporters Lapang lauded Syiem’s performance during her short stint as Rajya Sabha MP. He said, “She was friendly and helpful to all the members of the Rajya Sabha and attended to all the responsibilities assigned to her.”

An elated Syiem outlined health and education as her priorities. She told reporters after being declared elected, “I would do my best to serve the interest of the people of the state. From amongst the various sectors, health and education would be accorded top priority.”

Syiem also said that in the ten months when she served as the MP, she had done her best to contribute to Meghalaya’s development.- By Our Reporter