Guwahati: After a day-long political drama, National Peoples’ Party chief Conrad Sangma staked claim on Sunday to forming an alliance government with the support of 34 legislators of regional political parties and the BJP in Meghalaya.
Mr Acharya said he had asked Mr Rio to submit the signatures of all 32 MLAs supporting him by Monday.
Mr Sarma, who was camping in Shillong since Saturday and was instrumental in foiling the Congress’ bid to woo the regional parties, including the Peoples’ Democratic Front (PDF), said that the BJP would also be a part of the government.
United Democratic Party (UDP) president Donkupar Roy, who played the role of kingmaker, said: “The UDP decided we should go for a non-Congress government with Conrad Sangma as the chief minister.”
Earlier, there was high drama at Mr Roy’s house during the day when outgoing CM Mukul Sangma of the Congress and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma arrived at his house at the same time to seek his support. After failing to muster support, the Congress at one point even offered to support regional players like the UDP to form the next government with outside support from the Congress. However, the UDP turned down the offer.
In addition to the NPP’s 19 members in the 59-member Assembly, the NPP-led coalition has support from 15 more members. Six of them are from the UDP and two each from the Hill State People’s Democratic Party, the BJP and Independents.
