Lapang frontrunner for Meghalaya CM's post

Shillong, Mar 7 (UNI) The Congress is expected to elect its new Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in Meghalaya tomorrow, with incumbent Chief Minister D D Lapang emerging as the frontrunner for the post.

''All 24 elected Congress Legislators will meet tomorrow to elect its new CLP leader,'' Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president O L Nongtdu told UNI here.

The meeting will also discuss the post-poll alliance with other political parties after the people of the state presented another fractured mandate, Mr Nongtdu said.

''The MLAs will think and decide tomorrow whom they feel their best partners would be,'' he said.

Out of 59 Assembly constituencies for which elections were held on March 3, the Congress secured 25 seats, gaining as many as 11 seats in the regional bastion in Khasi-Jaintia hills.

However, sources in the Congress said the process of consultations between the Congress leaders with its former allies - the United Democratic Party (UDP), Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) - had already started.

''Talks are on, but the final decision rests with the 24 newly elected Congress Legislators and the party high command,'' Congress sources said.

The UDP has increased its tally by two with 11 seats while the HSPDP won two seats without any gain or loss. The KHNAM also managed to retain only one seat among the two they had won earlier.

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