A motley group of greenhorns, including a former PWD engineer, a coal baron, an architect and a pastor, will fight it out for the Shillong parliamentary constituency, held for the past three terms by veteran Congress leader P.R. Kyndiah.

Union tribal affairs minister and three times MP Kyndiah opted out of the contest, leaving the ring to fresh faces.

Only Martle Mukhim of the Meghalaya Democratic Party is relatively experienced, but he, too, has not contested the Lok Sabha polls before.

Mukhim wants to work towards eradicating poverty from Meghalaya’s villages once he is elected to Parliament.

He advocates transparency and accountability in governance, which according to him, are the prerequisites for speedy development.

Though he lost last year’s Assembly election from Deingling constituency of East Khasi Hills, the former minister is doing all he can to ensure a win this time.

The Congress, on the other hand, has decided to field newcomer Vincent Pala.

The party’s choice led to murmurs about veterans being overlooked. But Pala has money in abundance, which is likely to play a major role in the elections.

With Rs 21 crore as declared assets, including a wristwatch worth Rs 12 lakh, eight cars worth Rs 70 lakhs and land worth Rs 7 crore, Pala sure is a loaded candidate.

A former PWD engineer and prominent businessman from Jaintia Hills, Pala wants “holistic development” of Meghalaya and says that he is ready to contribute anything for the purpose.

What Meghalaya needs today is resource mobilisation and infrastructure development, which can make it one of the richest states in the country, feels Pala.

His main opponent in the United Democratic Party, John Kharshiing, has been projecting himself as the alternative leadership which Shillong needs, having given quite a few chances to the Congress earlier.

Kharshiing’s primary campaign barbs, therefore, have been against sitting Shillong MP Kyndiah for not doing enough for the development of Shillong.

Every parliamentarian is allotted Rs 2 crore a year under the MP local area development scheme, but there has been no work in Shillong constituency during the three terms Kyndiah served, he said.

He has also been referring to a 2006 survey on the performance of the Union ministers, where Kyndiah ranked very low.

Pastor-turned-politician Rev. P.B.M. Basaiawmoit, who is contesting on a Hill State People’s Democratic Party ticket, does not believe in money power or muscle power to win elections.

Advocating clean politics, Rev. Basaiawmoit said his priority would be protection of minorities and tribal rights.

“I will serve the people dedicatedly by protecting and fighting for their rights if I am elected to Parliament,” he said.

Stressing on free and fair elections, he has been goading people of all the 36 constituencies of Khasi-Jaintia Hills not to engage in proxy voting.

The UDP and HSPDP are partners in the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA).

Though the MPA had earlier decided to field a common candidate, the HSPDP did not agree to it. Poll pundits feel that two partners fighting separately will only help the Congress candidate.

The CPI has fielded social worker Dallington Dympep to contest the Shillong seat, though the party does not have much influence in Meghalaya.

Of the two Independents in the fray, Teirod Passah is an architect and urban designer and hence, has been stressing on re-vitalising the living conditions of the people of his constituency.

The other Independent candidate, Denis Siangshai, is a coal baron and prominent businessman from Jaintia Hills. Strengthening of district councils and traditional institutions are his campaign mantras.

A few common issues have been making their appearance in nearly all campaigns — the President’s rule, the state’s boundary dispute with Assam and border trade with Bangladesh being a few.