Upbeat Cong all set to form govt

SHILLONG, FEB 28: An upbeat Congress is all set to form the next government as it swept the Meghalaya assembly poll by clinching twenty-nine of the sixty- assembly seats in the result that was declared on Thursday.

The party has sent messages to all its elected legislators to be in Shillong by Thursday night.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told reporters over the phone that winning the election is part of an achievement, but to wipe out backwardness and poverty while in power will be a bigger achievement.

Sangma said, “Backwardness and poverty have been the issues for thepeople of the state and, therefore, it will also be the priority of the
party.”

Former chief minister Salseng C Marak, who has also been elected from the Resubelpara constituency after he had lost the 2008 assembly election, said that he was on his way to Shillong. He told this website, “I have been asked by the party to be in Shillong by tonight.”

Marak said that the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting to elect its leader is likely to be held either tomorrow or the day after. Congress sources said beside the AICC general secretary in-charge Meghalaya Mukul Wasnik Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Vayalar Ravi will also be there as the Congress central observer.

Chief Minister Mukul Sangma is likely to be re-elected as the CLP leader as the Congress got twenty-nine seats under his leadership. Congress sources, however, said, “ Unless there is somebody who challenges him to the CLP leadership, the choice is straight.”

Sources informed that in the event of anyone challenging Sangma during the CLP meeting then the leadership issue will have to be settle by the legislators through votes.

Congress missed the half way mark by one seat but its performance is much better than in 2008 election when it had bagged only twenty-five seats.

Much to the Congress delight and the disappointment of its rival, the party did extremely well when everybody was predicting that the Congress would not be crossing more than twenty-five seats. It surpassed that number and emerged as the single largest parties leaving its political opponents far behind.

Thirteen of the twenty-nine seats the Congress bagged came from Garo hills and the rest from Khasi and Jaintia hills districts.

Comparatively its two political rivals UDP and NPP fared badly as these parties cannot form government even if it comes together. The UDP has managed to win only eight seats of the fifty seats it contested. The UDP figure is three seats less than in the 2008 assembly election.

The NPP, which is the Congress main rival in Garo hills, almost bite the dust as it could manage to get only two seats of the thirty-two seats it contested. The Congress nearly disseminated the PA Sangma led NPP.

What is surprising is the performance of the Independent and HSPDP candidates. Though there were presumptions that the Independents will get more seats in this assembly compared to the 2008 election, but nobody could have bet that these candidates will get as many as thirteen seats. That is a huge number.

The HSPDP also surprised many by bagging four seats. The party supremo HS Lyngdoh defeated his earlier protégé Adviser Pariong, who had deserted him to join the Congress. The Congress pitted Parion against Lyngdoh in its bid to defeat the veteran leader who had never lost a single assembly election since Meghalaya became a full-fledged State. This time also the Nongstoin electorates decided to vote the veteran instead of Adviser who had deserted the HSPDP to join the Congress party.

Saleng A Sangma and Samuel Sangma- who were both denied the Congress ticket despite being sitting Congress legislators- bounced back by winning their respective seats as Independent candidates.