To keep Congress out of power in Meghalaya, the Assam Finance, Health and Education Minister and Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with regional parties will form the next government in the state.
“I am confident that the regional parties and the BJP will form the government in Meghalaya together. The people in Meghalaya have rejected the Congress. We are committed to giving them an alternative and we are moving in that direction only,” he informed the media.
Following its defeat in the Meghalaya polls yesterday, the BJP suggested that the regional parties – National People’s Party (NPP) and United Democratic Party (UDP) should enter into an alliance to form a “non-Congress government” in the state, as Meghalaya voters returned a hung assembly.
The BJP managed to win just two seats, while the Congress retained its hold on Meghalaya by winning 21 seats, 10 short of the majority 31-seat mark in the 60-member house.
The NPP won 19 seats, while other regional parties won 17 seats, implying that even though the Congress has won, it still may not form the government in the state.
According to sources, Congress leaders anticipating the BJP’s move, had met Meghalaya’s Governer in Shillong late last night. Congress leaders had handed over a letter to Governer Ganga Prasad and said they are single largest party to get votes and that they should be invited to form a government at the earliest.
The Congress is 10 seats short of the halfway mark at 31. As the early trends came in yesterday, senior Congress leaders, Kamal Nath and Ahmed Patel flew in from Delhi to Shillong to talk to regional parties for support.