Meghalaya is all set to witness a close contest between the ruling Congress and a BJP-regional parties combine.
MUKUL SANGMA is the second politician after the late Salseng C. Marak to have completed a full five year term as Chief Minister in the 46 years since the creation of the State of Meghalaya. However, that does not make the 2018 Assembly elections easy for him or the ruling Congress party.
Frequent changes of guard at the helm of affairs had been the only political constant for a major part of the State’s history. Elections to the 60-member Assembly will be held on February 27.
The rise of the National People’s Party (NPP) as a strong political force, the expansion of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) organisational base, the move by the NPP and the United Democratic Party (UDP) to jump on to the anti-Congress bandwagon, and the anti-incumbency sentiment are likely to reduce the elections to a battle between the Congress and the rest although the opposition parties have not arrived at a formal alliance. However, the UDP and two other regional parties, the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the Garo National Council (GNC), have entered into a seat-sharing agreement.
In 2013, the Congress won 29 seats and secured a vote share of 34.78 per cent. The UDP won eight seats, the HSPDP four , the NPP two, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) two, the GNC one, the North East Social Democratic Party (NESDP) one and independents 13. The BJP contested 13 seats and secured a vote share 1.27 per cent. The UDP secured 17.11 per cent, the NPP 8.81 per cent, the HSPDP 4.17 per cent, the NCP 1.84 per cent, the GNC 0.71 per cent, the NESDP 0.78 per cent and independents 27.69 per cent of the vote.
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