Possibility of a post-election alliance discussed...
People familiar with the matter said the Chief Minister met his Assam counterpart at midnight a day before vote counting in Meghalaya, amid exit polls forecasting a hung assembly.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, who leads the National People's Party (NPP), has decided to fight the assembly election alone, despite the fact that his party and Himanta Biswa Sarma's BJP have been working together to run the state government under the banner of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance.
According to sources, Mr Sangma and Mr Sarma discussed the possibility of a post-election alliance during a private meeting at a hotel in Assam's capital, Guwahati. Sources also said that , Mr Sangma had returned to Tura, his hometown in Meghalaya, this morning.
Mr Sarma is also known as the BJP's northeast strategist for his big contribution in defeating the Congress in 2016 and bringing the first BJP government in the region. His meeting with the Chief Minister of Meghalaya will not go unnoticed, as it will fuel speculation that something, most likely an alliance, is in the works.
The meeting is being framed as two friends catching up. "Sangma was in Guwahati last night, and his friend Sarma paid him a visit at the hotel. They had a private meeting "an unnamed source told news agency PTI.
The North East Development Alliance (NEDA) is headed by Hemanta Biswa Sharma, the chief minister of Assam. NEDA announced that it will not team up with either Congress or the Trinamool to form a government if such a situation arises.
Mr Sarma stated on Tuesday that, aside from Meghalaya, he is confident that there will be no hung assemblies in Tripura or Nagaland, the two other northeast states where assembly elections were held.
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