Lapang (top) and Sangma

Shillong, April 8: The Congress today harped on a Congress-NCP government in Meghalaya, saying such an alliance was a possibility after the two parties entered into a pre-poll tie-up in two other states of the country.

Meghalaya PCC president O.L. Nongtdu today said with the pre-poll pact of the NCP and the Congress in Maharashtra and Karnataka, Meghalaya could test the waters too.

Nongtdu said as the NCP and the Congress leaders were also working out a pre-poll understanding to contest the Lok Sabha elections, they would not have any choice but to support each other in the state.

Nongtdu said according to the proposed pre-poll alliance, if the NCP and the Congress cannot come together in Meghalaya, legislators of both parties would be disqualified, according to the sunderstanding of the pre-poll alliance in Maharashtra for the Assembly and the Lok Sabha elections.

When contacted, NCP leader P.A. Sangma, who is camping in Delhi, played down this logic. “Who is Nongtdu to speak on behalf of the NCP?” Sangma asked.

He indicated that the Congress was desperate to be in power in Meghalaya. “I know how to decide for NCP in Meghalaya,” Sangma added.

However, Nongtdu said if the central leaders of both the parties arrived at a pre-poll understanding to fight the elections jointly, this would be applicable throughout the country and Meghalaya would not be an exception.

“Therefore, the change is inevitable in the state, otherwise, the legislators may face disqualification,” Nongtdu said adding there were also options for the NCP legislators to leave the party.

Nongtdu, also a former Rajya Sabha MP, said the pre-poll alliance of the NCP and the Congress was as good as a merger of the two parties for fighting the elections together.

He said the anti-defection law would be applicable to both the NCP and the Congress legislators throughout the country if there was any violation of the pre-poll adjustment made at the national-level.

Nongtdu and leader of the Opposition D.D. Lapang were in Delhi last week to explore the possibilities of an NCP-Congress government in Meghalaya.

However, Sangma made it clear that the present Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) would compete its full term and there was no question of forming a government with the Congress.