Meghalaya Assembly election results 2018: Congress leads but no party gets clear majority

The ruling Congress has maintained its lead on 20 seats while the NPP continues to lead on 19 seats.

Ttrends on all 59 seats in Meghalaya show the ruling Congress leading on 20 out of 59 seats while the National People's Party remains close second with leads on 19 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading on just two seats and the UDP managed to lead on six seats. Others are leading on 12 seats.

Notably, the Congress party has ruled the state for 10 years, and the campaign for the party in the state was spearheaded by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The Congress faces a tough fight in Meghalaya from the National People's Party (NPP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Exit polls have predicted that the Congress-ruled state may witness a hung assembly.

The polling was for the 60-seat Meghalaya Assembly was held on February 27. Of the 60 Assembly seats in Meghalaya, as many as 55 seats in the state are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

#WATCH: Huge crowd at Shillong Polo ground where people can see counting trends through a projector #MeghalayaElection2018 pic.twitter.com/iBHVpy2pvl — ANI (@ANI) March 3, 2018

Out of three exit polls, no one has predicted clear-cut majority for the Congress party in the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly. At least 30 seats are required by a political party or an alliance to form the government. In the last assembly polls in 2013, the Congress Party won 29 seats. 

The JanKiBaat-NewsX exit poll predicts that the Congress Party will be able to win 13-17 seats with a vote share of 21 percent. The CVoter exit poll predicts 13-19 seats for the Congress Party with a vote share of 36.5 percent. The Axis-MyIndia exit poll has said the Congress Party is likely to win 20 seats.

While the BJP failed to win even one a single seat in the last assembly elections, the Axis-MyIndia exit poll has predicted 30 seats for the party. JanKiBaat-NewsX exit poll has suggested that the BJP will win 8-12 seats. CVoter exit poll has predicted 4-8 seats for the BJP.

The Congress Party fielded 59 candidates, while the BJP put up nominees in 47 constituencies. For the first time, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma contested from two seats. The Congress Party suffered a major setback on December 30 last year when five of its MLAs resigned from the Assembly and joined the NPP. Three other MLAs had also joined the NPP.

The voter turnout for February 27 elections was recorded to be 74.62 percent.