Mukul Sangma wins both seats in Meghalaya even as Congress falls short of half-way mark

Meghalaya chief minister and Congress leader Mukul Sangma has won both the constituencies of Ampati and Songsok. The Congress' face in the 2018 assembly polls faces a tough battle to come to power as the Congress is well short of the half-way mark, according to trends emerging from Meghalaya.

The Congress party has emerged as the single largest party in the state leading in 22 seats in the state. The NPP is just behind with atally of 16 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in four seats.

The Conrad Sangma-led NPP, which is a part of the BJP-led North-East Democratic Alliance, did not enter ionto a pre-poll alliance with the BJP. Congress had dared the NPP to sever ties with the BJP-led alliance before the polls. Conrad Sangma, who is the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma, is the main contender to the rule of Mukul Sangma of the Congress.

Trends emerging from Meghalaya show that the BJP has risen to four seats from nil in the 2013 elections, thereby managing to gain a toehold in the hill state.

Congress has rushed its senior leaders Ahmed Patel, Mukul Wasnik and Kamal Nath to the state for facilitating talks over government formation.