SHILLONG: Exactly after ten years, the regional political parties along with the BJP has once again have come together to rule Meghalaya though the regional alliance had a bitter experience in the past when similar coalition Government known as “Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government’ collapsed exactly a year after their formation in 2008.
This time, the NPP which secured 19 seats along with UDP (6), HSPDP (2), BJP (2) and PDF (4) have once again came together to rule the state and whether the coalition would be able to complete its tenure is the biggest question.
In the year 2008 following a similar fractured mandate, the NCP, UDP HSPDP and some independents formed the Government with Donkupar Roy as the Chief Minister
The then MPA had the support of exactly 31 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly and by June though, the MPA secured support from two additional Independent MLAs which took the ruling party’s count to 33 in the 60-member Assembly
However, by March 2009, the Government started tearing apart and Meghalaya was put under President’s Rule, and later, the government collapsed, paving the way for the formation of another coalition government led by Congress and UDP.
However, both UDP and NPP are optimistic this time that the coalition Government would complete its full tenure in the State as all are committed to work for the state.
It was also reported that the tussle between two departments to implement the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme was also one of the root of the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government’s collapse in 2009.
The now a BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma who then in the capacity of a Congress leader was helping the Congress to come to back to power in Meghalaya is now helping the BJP to form a non-Congress Government in Meghalaya.
The NPP which has elected Conrad Sangma as its Chief Minister has been maintaining from the beginning that party will select its Chief Minister from that region which gets the most number of seats and NPP this time got eight seats from Khasi-Jaintia Hills region while it got 11 seats from Garo Hills region.
However, many NPP leaders in many meetings in the run to the campaigns had already started projecting Prestone Tynsong as the Chief Ministerial candidate of the Party.
