Shillong Mar 23: Deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong on Monday said the election to the lone Rajya Sabha seat will be held as scheduled on March 26.

Whether the election will be postponed in view of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, Tynsong told reporters that no official communication has come in this regard.

He however said that Rajya Sabha election is not like Assembly elections where a large number of people will come out to vote.

“I will exercise my franchise and I am going there alone to cast my vote,” the deputy chief minister said while referring to social distancing protocol and measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The MDA government is fielding National People’s Party (NPP) Meghalaya president, Prof Wanwei Roy Kharlukhi for the Rajya Sabha poll while former Mawphlang legislator Kennedy Khyriem is the nominee of the opposition Congress.

The ruling MDA is led by NPP with 21 MLAs, United Democratic Party (7), People’s Democratic Front (4) BJP (2), Hill State People’s Democratic Party (2), NCP (1), KHNAM (1), and three Independents.

In the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly, the Congress has 19 legislators.

Voting for the Rajya Sabha election will be held on March 26 from 9 am to 4 pm and the counting of votes will take place at 5 pm on the same day.

All the 60 MLAs of the state Assembly are voters in the Rajya Sabha election.

The election is necessitated as the term of the current Rajya Sabha MP Wansuk Syiem will expire on April 12.

Syiem represents Meghalaya to the Upper House as member of the Congress for two terms.