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NPP, Congress see silver lining in Meghalaya projections

SHILLONG: Given the unclear predictions by exit polls, both National People's Party ( NPP ) and Congress are confident they will sweep the Lok Sabha election in the state.


Meghalaya has two Lok Sabha seats, Shillong , held by Congress, and Tura, held by NPP. While CVoter and TimesNow-VMR have predicted a victory for Congress and NPP in a seat each, Jan Ki Baat has given both seats to Congress.



Chief minister Conrad K'ongkal Sangma on Monday expressed confidence that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would return to power at the Centre and NDA would also emerge victorious in the state. "Exit polls do give a direction and the average shows that the NDA is most likely to come out," he told reporters on the sidelines of a function a day after most exit polls in the country predicted victory for the ruling dispensation at the Centre.

"Clearly, there is a very strong mandate for Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the country has seen development," said Conrad, who is president of the National People's Party (NPP), which is a constituent of the NDA. Asked about the likely outcome of the elections to the two Lok Sabha seats in the state, Conrad expressed confidence that the NDA would win both.

On the other hand, the Congress, which has traditionally won the Shillong Lok Sabha seat, is confident of retaining its political bastion.

"We will not only retain the Shillong seat but also win the Tura Lok Sabha seat," a senior Congress functionary exuded confidence.

Intelligence reports too indicate that the Congress is mostly likely to retain the Shillong seat, while the NPP will register victory in Tura, a seat which was vacated by chief minister Conrad Sangma after winning assembly by-election last year.

BJP, which fielded candidates for both Lok Sabha seats in the state, is also hopeful of springing a surprise this time by bagging one of these.

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