Parties hope to cash in on Congress’ disintegration

SHILLONG, Nov 12: With the Assembly elections in Meghalaya due early next year and the Congress going through difficult times following its disintegration, some political parties are working hard to take advantage of the situation.
The United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are two of the parties hoping to better their performance. The BJP, which has not had any impressive performance in Meghalaya so far, is working quite aggressively towards this end.
The Congress, which had emerged as the single largest party after the 2013 and 2018 elections, is now a shadow of its glorious past. It suffered a body blow last year when 12 of its MLAs had worn Trinamool Congress’ colours. The remaining five others have more or less ditched the party.
Recently, suspended Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh said there is a strong possibility that a single party will get an absolute majority this time around since the Congress has disintegrated.
UDP leader Jemino Mawthoh expressed a similar view. He claimed the UDP would get an absolute majority as the Congress is no longer a force to be reckoned with while the newly-floated parties are unacceptable to people as of now.
The polls will give the Congress an opportunity to regain the lost ground. Party leaders are optimistic. They said the Congress would come back strongly, claiming that it has its vote banks intact.