Congress stakes claim to form government in Meghalaya

Shillong: Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Kamal Nath met Governor Ganga Prasad requesting him to invite the Congress to form the new government in Meghalaya. "We have already met the governor and handed him a letter to request him to invite the Congress being the single largest party," Nath said on Saturday. The Congress which emerged as the single largest party winning 21 assembly seats is short of ten seats to get an absolute majority in the 60 member assembly. "We will stake claim to form the government. We are already in touch with other political parties. We are confident of forming the new government," the senior Congress leader said. "The voice of the people should be respected and the BJP winning only two seats has proven that people rejected them," he added. "It is a fractured mandate. Now it is a question of looking at people who would like to look at common agenda acceptable to the state's people and come together," outgoing Chief Minister Mukul Sangma told IANS. Sangma, retained Ampati seat for the sixth consecutive term and unseated two-time National People's Party (NPP) candidate Nihim D. Shira in Songsak. Asked if the Congress had sent feelers to other parties and independents to form the new government, Sangma said: "All parties have gone on their own and the regional parties have not shown any pre-poll alliance either with the Bharatiya Janata Party or the NPP."