Journalism of Courage
The ruling National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya was leading, while the B JP was ahead in 10 assembly segments, TMC in 9, Congress in 6, UDP in 4 and others in 9, according to the trends.
While the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had overnight become the principal Opposition in the state after 12 Congress MLAs defected to it in November 2021, is putting up a decent fight, the Congress, which was the single largest party in 2018, has found itself in an embarrassing position. Even as Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma is leading in the South Tura seat against his nearest rival Bernard N Marak of the BJP, state Congress president Vincent H Pala is currently trailing behind NPP’s Santa Mary Shylla in the Sutnga Saipung seat.
It may be recalled the exit polls had predicted that no party would cross the halfway mark in the 60-member Assembly. As per the aggregate of the four exit polls, the NPP may end up with 20 seats, while the BJP, an NPP ally in power which fought the elections separately, may increase its tally from 2 to 6.
Meanwhile, an interesting trend has emerged in Meghalaya with the newly-formed Voice of the People Party (VPP) leading in four seats, including Mawlai, one of the largest constituencies in Meghalaya. The VPP was formed just months before the election, and has fielded several first-timers with the stated aim of bringing “political change and to bring clean politics in Meghalaya.”
