Meghalaya is all set for polling in 59 of the 60 Assembly seats where more than 21.6 lakh voters will decide the fate of 369 candidates on Monday, as the ruling National People's Party fights to retain power, while the BJP and Trinamool Congress attempt to unseat the incumbent government from power.
Chief Electoral Officer F R Kharkongor said preparations for conducting a free, fair and peaceful election have been completed.
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Polling will begin at 7 am in 3,419 booths and will continue till 4 pm. As many as 640 polling booths have been categorised as 'vulnerable' and 323 as 'critical'.
Thirty-six of the 369 candidates are women. The highest of 10 women nominees have been put up by the Congress.
As the state readies to elect its next party, here is a look how the state has voted in the past elections:
| Male electors who voted | Female electors who voted | Total electors who voted | Average electors per station | Successful male candidates | Successful female candidates | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 537211 | 560005 | 1097216 | 771 | 59 | 1 |
| 2013 | 633900 | 671826 | 1305726 | 605 | 56 | 4 |
| 2018 | 754131 | 797057 | 1572785 | 599 | 57 | 3 |
How parties fared in past polls
The 2003 elections saw the Congress-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) form the government, with D D Lapang taking the chief ministerial chair. Lapang was later replaced in 2006 by J D Rymbai.
The 2008 elections saw a hung verdict, Congress formed the government with the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA), and Lapang was once again made the Chief Minister. He however resigned in 2010 with Mukul Sangma being named his successor.
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The 2013 elections saw Sangma retain his position with Congress winning 29 seats.
The subsequent elections in 2018 saw a tight race between Conrad Sangma's National People's Party (NPP) and Mukul Sangma's Congress. The elections resulted in a hung assembly with NPP ultimately forming the government with the support of UDP, BJP and other regional parties.
| NPP | BJP | INC | NCP | UDP | Independents | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | -- | 1 | 25 | 15 | 11 | 5 | 3 |
| 2013 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 8 | 13 | 6 |
| 2018 | 20 | 2 | 21 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 7 |
The Meghalaya assembly has 60 seats with a total of 369 candidates contesting the elections, the votes for which will be counted on March 2.
(With agency inputs)