Cong,NCP in talks to form govt in Meghalaya

According to sources,the negotiations between the two sides remained inconclusive till Thursday evening because while the NCP agreed to give the Chief Ministership to the Congress,the latter was not ready to give more than two ministerial berths to the NCP in the state Cabinet. This was unacceptable to the NCP.

In the event of a breakdown of talks with the NCP,the Congress was also learnt to be in touch with the United Democratic Party (UDP) in a bid to form an alternative coalition.

In the 60-member Assembly,the Congress has 26 MLAs,while the NCP has 14. The UDP has nine members. The House has an effective strength of 55 members after the resignation of one MLA and disqualification of four others by the Speaker.

It was the NCP-UDP led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) government that was dismissed by the Centre on March 19 this year,barely a year after it was formed. President’s Rule had been imposed two days after MPA won a floor test. The decision to explore the possibility of a Congress-NCP government was taken at a meeting between NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day. Pawar left for Pune later,leaving his party colleagues to finalise the nitty-gritty of the government. The PM was also said to have spoken to senior NCP leader P A Sangma. Ahmed Patel,political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi,was engaged in discussions with senior NCP leader Praful Patel till late on Thursday.

NCP general secretary D P Tripathi neither confirmed nor denied the possibility of a Congress-NCP coalition government in Meghalaya. “The NCP is for strengthening secular forces throughout the country. In Meghalaya,we would also like to have a secular,democratic government,which runs a full term,” he said.