Congress becomes single largest party in Meghalaya

With the victory in Ampati assembly seat, the Congress has become the single largest party in the Meghalaya Assembly. Miani D Shira, the daughter of former chief minister Mukul Sangma, won the Ampati assembly seat on Thursday.

Ms Shira defeated her nearest rival from the ruling alliance, NPP's Clement Momin by 3191 votes.

Now, the Congress has 21 seats, the National People's Party or NPP-alliance led by chief Minister Conrad Sangma has 20 seats.

The Ampati seat fell vacant after Shira's father and Congress leader Mukul Sangma, who won from two seats in the Assembly elections, vacated the seat. The Ampati constituency in Garo hills is home turf for both Sangma families. CM Conrad Sangma is the son of former Lok Sabha speaker late PA Sangma.

The regional parties - the United Democratic Party (UDP) has seven MLAs, Peoples Democratic Front-4, HSPDP-2 and the BJP-2, besides an MLA each of the NCP and an Independent - are constituents of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.

(WIth PTI inputs)