Former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma's daughter Agatha Kongkhal will be the Nationalist Congress Party candidate for the May 22 by-election to Meghalaya's Tura Lok Sabha seat.
The NCP on Monday decided that Agatha would be its candidate for the seat, from which Sangma resigned after being elected as a Member of the Legislative Council.
Party sources said that Agatha would be able to cash in on her father's image and win the seat with ease.
Sangma has never lost from the Tura parliamentary seat since 1977, even though he changed his party affiliation from the Congress to the Trinamool Congress and then to the NCP.
A law graduate registered with the Delhi Bar Council, Agatha has a string of degrees, including a Masters in Environmental Management from the School of Geography, Nottingham University in Britain.
She is also the consensus candidate of the ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance, which comprises UDP, KHNAM, HSPDP, besides the NCP and BJP.
Sangma's two sons -- Conrad and James -- have won the recently-concluded assembly elections, making their maiden entry to the state assembly. Conrad is a minister in-charge of finance, tourism and power while James is the Parliamentary Secretary for Home.
