Congress stakes claim to form government in Meghalaya

“We are the single largest party and we should be invited to form the government," says senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel.

March 04, 2018 11:01 am | Updated December 01, 2021 12:38 pm IST - Shillong

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel. File

Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel. File

In a late night development on Saturday, senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Kamal Nath met Governor Ganga Prasad requesting him to invite the party to form the new government in Meghalaya.

The Congress emerged as the single largest party in Meghalaya winning 21 of the 59 Assembly seats that had gone to the polls. The Congress is still short of ten seats to get an absolute majority in the 60-member Assembly.

“We are the single largest party and we should be invited to form the Government," Mr. Patel said.

 

Four senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Kamal Nath, Mukul Wasnik and C.P. Joshi are in Meghalaya to ensure that the party in able to form the government. A meeting of the newly elected legislators is scheduled on Sunday where the leader of the Congress legislature party will be elected.

Meanwhile, the National People's Party (NPP) is also scheduled to have a meeting during the day to decide on its strategy. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Himanta Biswa Sarma arrived in Shillong late on Saturday evening.

He said that the NPP should take lead to form a non-Congress government and added that the BJP is trying to forge an alliance with the NPP and the United Democratioc Party (UDP), both allies to the BJP in the North East Democratic Alliance ( NEDA). Mr. Sarma, who is the convener of the NEDA, along with Union Tourism Minister K,J, Alphons, will also meet the Governor later in the day.

"Our role will be that of a facilitator. The mandate is clearly against the Congress and Chief Minister Mukul Sangma,” Mr. Sarma noted.

While Congress Chief Minister Mukul Sagma is all set to be elected as leader of the newly elected MLAs, in the NPP, daughter of P.A. Sangma and former MP Agatha Sangma is likely to emerge as the front runner.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.