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Cong confident of absolute majority

By Correspondent

IMPHAL, Feb 2 � Even though the ruling Congress is confident of winning absolute majority and form the next government for the third consecutive term, it�s coalition partner Communist Party of India (CPI) is still dreaming of another round of coalition government after the March 6 vote counting.

�We�ve today decided for a better coalition government than the previous one as no political parties will get absolute majority this time,� says Dr Moirangthem Nara, CPI State secretary, after attending a three-hour meeting of the party leaders in presence of almost all party candidates in the recently concluded Assembly polls.

CPI, which had four MLAs in the last polls, is the lone coalition partner of the Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh-led Secular Progressive Front ministry in its two previous terms. But this time the party is expecting to occupy 10 seats in the House of 60.

However, the CPI leader is not ready to spell out anything on their possible post-poll alliance with the ruling Congress. �Let the election result come first,� he said responding to a question.

Similarly, the pre-poll alliance of the five Opposition parties � Progressive Democratic Front (PDF) � has also started to spell out their respective assessments predicting that the tally of the ruling Congress will be fewer.

In his pre-poll interview, Ibobi had said that Congress will get a minimum of 35 and maximum of 45 seats out of 60 in the polls. Manipur People�s Party, NCP, JD(U), CPI(M) and RJD are constituent parties of PDF.

�PDF will emerge as the single largest party to form a new coalition government,� says former Union Sports Minister Thounaojam Chaoba, an MPP candidate from Nambol seat in Manipur�s Bishnupur district in a recent media interaction.

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