New Delhi/Shillong, Jan 26 : The Congress on Wednesday released the first list of 55 candidates for Assembly elections in Meghalaya scheduled on February 27. AICC General Secretary in-charge of Central Election Committee, Mukul Wasnik, announced the names of the 55 candidates in Delhi. According to the list, state Congress President and Lok Sabha MP from Shillong parliamentary constituency, Vincent H. Pala, would contest from Sutnga Saipung Assembly constituency. Saleng A. Sangma, who had resigned as Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA and joined the Congress on January 23, has been fielded from the Gambegre (ST) Assembly constituency from where he was elected in 2018 polls. Former police officer-turned-politician Champion R. Sangma would contest from the Songsak constituency. Several former MLAs and ministers also got party tickets for the upcoming Assembly polls. In all, eight women candidates found place in the first list of candidates, which was released after a meeting of the CEC meeting chaired by party President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday. Of the 55 candidates, most are new faces. In the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress had won 21 seats in the 60-member Assembly, but subsequently all its legislators joined other parties, including the Trinamool Congress and the ruling National People's Party. Twelve MLAs, led by former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma (2010-2018), who had won in the 2018 Assembly election as Congress nominees, joined the Trinamool Congress in November 2021, making the West Bengal-based party the main opposition in the northeastern state overnight. /IANS