Meghalaya: HM Shangpliang likely to get NPP’s Rajya Sabha ticket

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SHILLONG: Senior National People's Party (NPP) leader and former MLA HM Shangpliang is emerging as the frontrunner for the party's lone Rajya Sabha seat from Meghalaya. NPP cadres and leaders are holding meetings with the top party leadership, reportedly pitching Shangpliang as the party's candidate for the Upper House. Political buzz within ruling circles indicates that the leadership is inclined to field him as its nominee.

Sources within the NPP, while confirming the development, said that with the party currently having no representation in the Lok Sabha and the term of sitting Rajya Sabha MP Dr W R Kharlukhi coming to an end in June 2026, the leadership is keen to project a sharp, vocal and politically combative face in the Rajya Sabha to effectively assert Meghalaya's interests at the national level.

The Rajya Sabha seat has assumed heightened political significance for the NPP, which increasingly views it as its primary parliamentary platform to raise long-pending and sensitive issues concerning the state. These include the inclusion of the Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, implementation of the Inner Line Permit, and sustained advocacy for Meghalaya's development priorities on the national floor. Sources further said that HM Shangpliang, widely regarded as one of the most outspoken legislators during the 2018-2023 Meghalaya Assembly tenure, built a reputation for consistently flagging people-centric issues and holding the government to account-attributes seen as working in his favour.

With incumbent Rajya Sabha MP Dr W R Kharlukhi reportedly reluctant to seek a second term after June 2026, the internal succession race within the party has gathered momentum. While former Dadenggre MLA and senior leader James Sangma's name is also doing the rounds, sources within the NPP said that, for now, HM Shangpliang stands ahead in the race, reflecting the party's apparent strategy to convert its Rajya Sabha seat into a high-impact political megaphone for Meghalaya at the Centre.

Also Read: NPP Claims Meghalaya Has Shifted from Stagnation to Sustained Growth