BJP, NPP to form government in Meghalaya

In Meghalaya, despite a hung Assembly, the BJP and its ally in the state, the Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party will form the government. While the BJP’s seat tally remains unchanged, the NPP has won 6 more seats than 2018, winning 26 seats in all. Regional outfit United Democratic Party emerged as the second-largest party with 11 seats this term, bettering its 2018 tally of 6 seats.

As it was clear that the state had a fractured mandate, Assam Chief Minister and North East Democratic Alliance chief Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to announce that Sangma had reached out to the BJP.

“Sri @SangmaConrad , Chief Minister of Meghalaya, called @AmitShah ji, Hon’ble Home Minister, and sought his support and blessings in forming the new government,” Himanta tweeted.

Sarma then said that BJP president J P Nadda had advised the state unit to support the NPP in “forming the next government in Meghalaya”.

This marks a second term for Sangma, the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma, who has come up to be regarded as a formidable player in Northeast politics. His deftness, moving from asking BJP to not “act as the big brother” during contentious issues, to dialing Amit Shah in a post-poll situation has worked for him electorally.

Meghalaya is a state known as the “cradle of coalition” as it has had over 23 governments since 1972, when it was carved out of Assam following a prolonged statehood movement. Last term, the NPP helmed a government, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, with the BJP, UDP, the Hills State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDP). This term, too, the NPP will form the government with the BJP and UDP.

With five seats, the gains made by the Trinamool Congress, a West Bengal party in a state with a history of anti-Bengali violence, was made possible by the export of former chief minister Mukul Sangma from the Congress. The TMC’s gain in the state, which went from 0 in 2018 to 5 seats, has marked Congress’s loss – the Congress went from 20 seats to 5 seats only.