“Short of few numbers will wait for final results”: Meghalaya CM drops hints of post-poll alliance

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma dropped a subtle hint of a possible post-election alliance on Thursday, as the latest counting trends pointed to a hung Assembly. He said his party will wait till the number stabilizes and a clearer picture emerges and will then deliberate on a post-poll tie-up, if necessary.

“We’d like to thank the people of the state for having voted for us. We are short of a few numbers, so we’ll wait for the final results to come out. We will see our future course of action on the basis of the final results,” CM Sangma said.

At 2.20 p.m., the Election Commission reported that the ruling NPP had won 5 seats and was leading by 20, while the United Democratic Party had won 3 seats and was leading by 8. TMC, Hill State People’s Democratic Party, Congress, and Voice of the People Party each received one seat. Wailadmiki Shylla of the National People’s Party defeated TMC’s Awhai Andrew Shullai in Jowai by a margin of 2667 votes.

Coming One Ymbon of the National People’s Party defeated Lakhon Biam of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Raliang. Rakkam A. Sangma of the National People’s Party from Rongara Siju defeated Congress candidate Rophul S Marak by a margin of 3258 seats.

Lahkmen Rymbui of the United Democratic Party defeated the National People’s Party’s Stephanson Mukhim by 57 seats in the Amlarem constituency. Independent Kartush R. Marak defeated the BJP’s Samuel M Sangma by 2,225 seats in Baghmara.

Saleng A. Sangma of the Congress Party won with a margin of 2871 seats. Sadhiarani M. Sangma of the Trinamool Congress is the candidate from Gambegre. While the majority vote in Meghalaya is 31, the NPP was on track to be the single largest party after the first round of voting.

As the counting of votes for the Meghalaya Assembly continued, supporters from all parties gathered at Shillong’s Polo Ground. Meanwhile, NPP supporters gathered outside CM Conrad Sangma’s residence in Tura, anticipating victory.

The counting began at 8 a.m. in all 13 centres. Initially, postal ballots will be counted for the first 30 minutes, followed by polled votes in the EVM Control Units.

Shillong has the most Counting Halls in the state, with one for each assembly constituency. The West Garo Hills District Counting Centre serves 11 assembly constituencies and is the state’s second-largest counting centre.

The Election Commission has deployed 27 Counting Observers, with over 500 micro observers assisting them at each table. Meghalaya Chief Minister and National People’s Party (NPP) chief Conrad Sangma met Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma in Guwahati on Tuesday night, ahead of the counting of votes for Meghalaya assembly elections. Sarma, in particular, is the convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).

According to an NPP source, both Chief Ministers attended a crucial meeting in a hotel in Guwahati that lasted half an hour. Following the meeting, the Chief Minister of Meghalaya returned to Tura in the West Garo Hills. Earlier on Tuesday, Meghalaya CM hinted at forming a post-poll alliance to form the government.

A counting Observer assists four counting assistants at each table. On Monday, Meghalaya had a voting percentage of more than 76%. The state’s 59 Assembly constituencies were represented by 3,419 polling stations.

Meghalaya has 60 Assembly constituencies, 36 of which are in the Khasi, Jaintia Hills region, and 24 in the Garo Hills region. However, polling for the Sohiong Assembly constituency was postponed following the demise of the state’s former Home Minister and United Democratic Party (UDP) candidate from the seat HDR Lyngdoh.