Conrad SangmaShillong: Meghalaya is inching closer to government formation with the National People's Party (NPP) president Conrad K Sangma meeting Governor Ganga Prasad this evening to stake claim to form a coalition government in the state.
The parties have come together to cobble up Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA) with 34 MLAs comprising the NPP, the UDP, Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the BJP.
"We met the Governor and submitted a letter of support from 34 MLAs 19 of the NPP, six of the the United Democratic Party (UDP), four of the People's Democratic Front (PDF), two each of the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the BJP and an Independent," Sangma told reporters outside the Raj Bhavan here.
The NPP leader is the youngest son of former Lok Sabha Speaker (L) P A Sangma who died in 2016. He was elected a Member of Parliament in a by-election from Tura constituency after his father's death.
Asked about the challenges of running a coalition government, the 40-year-old Tura MP said, "It is not an easy task. But the parties who are supporting us are committed to work for the welfare of the people and the state. We will work on a common agenda."
The Congress bagged 21 seats, eight less than in the last elections.
Sangma will be chief minister
UDP president and RDA chairman Donkupar Roy earlier told reporters here that his party has agreed to lend support to the NPP, which secured 19 seats in the Assembly polls, on the condition that Conrad Sangma will be the chief minister once the NPP-led alliance forms the government.
"Conrad Sangma has agreed to the condition and we will form a stable government. The BJP will be a part of the government here," Roy told reporters after a party meeting.
The UDP chief said that Mukul Sangma also met him and offered him the chief minister's post on a two-and-a-half years sharing basis between his party and the Congress.
"We have rejected this proposal and decided to form a non-Congress government instead," he said.
Meghalaya threw up a fractured mandate Saturday with the ruling Congress emerging as the largest party, marginally ahead of its rival, the NPP, an ally of the BJP at the centre and in Manipur.
The Congress bagged 21 seats in the 60-member Assembly, eight less than the last elections.
The BJP, which drew a blank in the last elections, got two seats. The UDP won six seats while its alliance partner, the HSPDP, won two seats.
The People's Democratic Front (PDF) bagged four seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) and three Independents got one seat each.
Polling for the 59 seats of the 60-member Assembly in Meghalaya was held on February 27. A Nationalist Congress Party candidate was killed in an IED blast, which resulted in countermanding of polls in one seat.
Outgoing chief minister Mukul Sangma, who resigned from the post on Sunday, had contested and won the elections from two seats.
