SHILLONG, March 3 - The Congress emerged as the single largest party with 21 seats followed closely by the NPP with 19 and the UDP-HSPDP alliance winning eight seats in a hung Meghalaya Assembly the election results for which were declared today.
The winning mark in Meghalaya Assembly is 31 with a total strength of 60. However, polling was held in 59 seats as election to one of the seats was countermanded following the death of a candidate.
The Congress� tally has come down from 29 from the last election, while the NPP has gained 17 seats from the 2013 election. But, both the NPP and the Congress would be disappointed with the result in the absence of a clear mandate.
The UDP on its own has come down from eight seats it won in the last election to six seats, while the HSPDP also lost two seats by winning two seats from the four it won the last election. New political entrant, PDF won four seats. The BJP won two seats, while the NCP and the KHNAM each bagged a seat. Independents won from three constituencies.
The Congress� vote share in the state was 28.5 per cent while that of the NPP was 20.6 per cent. The UDP received 11.7 per cent of the vote share and the BJP 9.7 per cent. Independents got 10.8 per cent and the PDF 8.2 per cent.
The Congress won 10 seats from the Garo Hills region and the NPP bagged 11 seats out of the 23 seats that were there up for grabs. The Congress won 13 seats from Garo Hills in the last election, the NPP winning just two.
In the Khasi Hills region with 36 seats, the NPP did not perform up to its expectations and won just nine seats. The Congress on the other hand won 11 seats. In 2013, the Congress won 16 seats from this region, the NPP didn�t open its account from this region in 2013.
However, the Congress� tally may remain the same or come down as Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has contested from two seats and won from both. So he has to resign from one seat and byelections would be held again.
Moreover, in the Williamnagar constituency there would be elections later on as the NCP candidate was killed in an IED blast and the polls were countermanded.
It�s likely that the seat would witness a tough contest between Jonathone Sangma�s widow, who would contest from the NCP, and sitting Congress MLA from the constituency, Deborah C Marak.
