SHILLONG, FEB 27: NPP president Purno A. Sangma on Wednesday expressed the confidence that a non-Congress coalition will form the next government in Meghalaya and said that a divided Congress will not be able to provide a stable government.
Wearing the psephologist’s hat, Sangma said his party is all set to win big in the Garo Hills, while the HSPDP will do well in West Khasi Hills, the UDP in Khasi Hills and independents in the Jaintia Hills. The Congress, he predicted, will fare badly. “It will be the non-Congress government in the state…As usual it will be a fractured mandate in the state. The Congress (tally) will go down drastically,” he told this website.
The NPP boss categorically ruled out joining hands with the Congress, which was a divided house and will not be able to form a stable government. “It (the infighting within the Congress) is bad for the stability of the state government,” he said.
When pointed out that the coalition government of 2008 of which he was a part, too, proved a failure, Sangma quipped: “Experience is a great teacher.” The former chief minister did not rule out joining hands with regional parties in forming the next government despite the bad experience of last time when NCP, which Sangma subsequently left to form the NPP, and regional parties had formed the government only for it to collapse in no time.
Asked who would be the chief ministerial candidate in the event of a coalition government comprising his party, HSPDP and UDP, Sangma hinted that the party with the most number of MLAs could get to nominate the chief minister. “Let us see the figure, after all figure counts,” he said. -By Suraj Joshi
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