Blunting the challenge posed by P A Sangma, Congress emerged as the single largest party in Meghalaya today bagging 29 seats falling short of majority by two in the Assembly polls and is set to retain power with the help of Independents. The United Democratic Party(UDP), which was the key ally of Congress for the past three years in the Meghalaya United Alliance coalition government, retained eight out of 11 seats it won in 2008. The two parties, however, did not have any pre-poll alliance and it was not immediately known if the two parties could again come together to form a government. The results are a shot in the arm of Congress chief minister Mukul Sangma who faced stiff opposition from P A Sangma, an old warhorse, who had quit Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party(NCP) to form the National People’s Party last year. Congress in fact bagged four more seats to get 25 while NPP managed to bag only two seats, saving itself from the ignominy of getting wiped off the political map in the Garo Hills region, once considered the bastion of the former Lok Sabha Speaker who lost the Presidential elections last year. Thirteen Independent candidates also won from their constituencies, some of who may support Congress in the formation of a government in the northeast state. NCP won two seats with its incumbent deputy speaker Sanbor Shullai retaining his urban South Shillong constituency. Hill State Peoples Democratic Party president Hopingstone Lyngdoh emerged with a clean slate for the eighth consecutive term to the Assembly from Nongstoin constituency in West Khasi Hills district. His party colleague Ardent Basaiawmoit retained his Nongkrem seat in East Khasi Hills district and the partys position improved by two seats. The party won only two seats in 2008. All three former chief ministers of the state won from their respective constituencies. While Congress chief D D Lapang won from Nongpoh and S C Marak from Resubelpara, UDP president Donkupar Roy tasted victory from the Shella constituency. Mukul Sangma won from Ampati seat for the fifth time in a row, defeating his NPP rival Clement G Momin. Mukul’s wife D D Shira and brother Zenith Sangma won from their respective constituencies in the Garo Hills. Speaker in the outgoing Assembly Charles Pyngrope (Congress) lost his seat to a UDP candidate.PTI
