Shillong/Tura, March 2: Meghalaya’s voters will decide tomorrow if they want a break from three decades of unstable coalition politics.

On the eve of the Assembly polls, all the major parties have appealed for a single-party government to ensure a “prosperous, peaceful and stable” Meghalaya, where only one chief minister in recent decades, S.C. Marak, completed his term.

One of the hopefuls is Nationalist Congress Party leader Purno Agitok Sangma, a nine-time MP and one-time MLA who has never lost an election.

He has declared he will never return to the Centre or rejoin the Congress, projected himself as the next chief minister and fielded both his sons on “popular” demand.

Given the strained ties between Sangma and Sonia Gandhi, the Congress has gone all out to portray him as a back-stabber.

If Sangma is to head a single-party government in the 60-member House, he must extend his influence from his Garo Hills stronghold, which has 24 seats, to the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, too.

Ruling alliance partners Congress and the United Democratic Party have decided to go it alone, with each urging the 12.32-lakh voters to vote it singly to power.

The Congress has at least three contenders: chief minister D.D. Lapang, deputy chief minister Mukul Sangma and former chief minister Marak who lost his seat in the last election. Mukul Sangma’s challenge is to upstage Purno Sangma in the Garo Hills.

Two other former chief ministers, from the UDP, are seeking to regain their seats. E.K. Mawlong is trying to wash off the taint of the Meghalaya House scam following a court clean chit while J.D. Rymbai wants to prove that there is life outside the Congress.

For all the talk of coalitions being off, the 73 Independents in the fray could play a key role after the polls. Also, smaller players like the Meghalaya Democratic Party (MDP), Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) are likely to support any ruling combination. The BJP is untouchable only for the Congress.

The incumbent ministry was formed by the Congress (29 seats), UDP (8), MDP (4), HSPDP (2), KHNAM (2) and Independents (4).

The voters have the same wish list as in the last elections: roads, jobs, power supply and peace.

Tura faces power cuts from 10am to noon and 2am to 4am every day. In the Garo Hills, the death of nine people in the agitation over the power board bifurcation remains an emotive issue.