The Trinamul Congress on Friday announced its first list of 52 candidates for the Meghalaya Assembly elections with the former chief minister and incumbent legislature party leader Mukul M. Sangma nominated from two seats as in the 2018 state polls.

The Meghalaya Assembly has 60 seats.

Sangma, one of the state’s influential politicians, had won both the Songsak and Ampati seats in 2018 but left the Ampati seat for his daughter, Miani D. Shira. The former chief minister will be contesting from Songsak and Tikrikilla Assembly constituencies this time.

The Tikrikilla seat was won by the Congress in the last elections. Sangma’s wife Dikkanchi D. Shira (Mahendraganj), his daughter Miani (Ampati) and his younger brother Zenith M. Sangma (Rangsakona), all sitting MLAs, also figure in the first list that has five women and 15 MLAs and member of district councils.

The former chief minister had walked out of the Congress with 11 MLAs to join the Trinamul in November 2021, propelling Trinamul to the status of the principal Opposition party.

The names of candidates for the remaining eight constituencies will be declared in the coming days, Meghalaya state unit president Charles Pyngrope said.

“We have considered a lot of factors ... and after a thorough discussion among senior members of the party and committee, the list has been announced,” Pyngrope, who will be contesting from Nongthymmai, said in a media statement.

The Trinamul has been focussing on Meghalaya and Tripura, which go to the polls by mid-March, to expand its footprints.

The state unit has been wooing women and young voters.

Sangma said: “We are expecting the people of the state will think about the secure future of Meghalaya. The state has really suffered because of the usually fractured mandate that has been the trend.”