By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Amid the tussle among political parties in the State to secure as many seats as possible, almost all the Congress leaders are betting on the party to cross the half way mark out of the total 60 seats in the Assembly in this election to end the perennial instability in Meghalaya.
The dream, if realized, will create history as since 1972 the Congress could not cross the 25-seat mark in the Assembly polls.
In the 2008 election, after the Congress secured 25 seats, another three were added to its kitty after two wins in the by-polls (Ampareen Lyngdoh from Laitumkhrah and Stanlywiss Rymbai from Umroi) and the lone BJP member AL Hek joining the Congress.
While the Congress tally was 25 each in 1983 and 1998, it had secured just 9 seats in the 1972 elections.
The Congress bagged 20 seats in 1978, 22 in 1988, 24 in 1993 and 22 in 2003.
While the Congress leaders like Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, MPCC president DD Lapang and MPCC working president Deborah Marak reiterated their claim that the Congress will get more than 30 seats, it remains to be seen whether their calculations will come true in the context of too many political parties and independents along with Congress drop-outs vying for many seats.
Several Congress leaders, both from the Centre and the State, had also said during the campaigns that the people should give clear mandate to any political party in the State considering the perennial instability factor here.
They considered that by securing absolute majority, the recurring instability factor can be checked as there will be a single party Government.
However, the ground reality is that there can be a fractured verdict with the possibility of Congress emerging as the single largest party after the polls, if not absolute majority.