1978 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election
The 1978 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election was held on 25 February 1978.[1] No party secured a majority of seats in the election. Following negotiations, a coalition government, known as the Meghalaya United Legislative Party, was formed between the All Party Hill Leaders Conference, the Hill State People's Democratic Party and the Public Demands Implementation Convention (PDIC).[1] Due to an inability to reach agreement between the coalition parties, the position of Chief Minister was chosen by drawing lots; subsequently, on 10 March 1978, Darwin Diengdoh Pugh was sworn in as the state's second Chief Minister.[2] Miriam D Shira from Garo Hills was the only woman elected to the legislature.[3]
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All 60 seats in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly 31 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 67.18% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results
| Parties and coalitions | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Won | +/− | ||
| Indian National Congress (INC) | 109,654 | 28.96 | 19.07  |
20 | 11 | |
| All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) | 94,362 | 24.92 | 10.75  |
16 | 16 | |
| Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) | 72,852 | 19.24 | 14[a] | |||
| Indian National Congress (I) | 5,447 | 1.44 | 0 | |||
| Communist Party of India | 2,361 | 0.62 | 0.05 |
0 |  | |
| Independents (IND) | 93,970 | 24.82 | 29.04 |
10[b] | 9 | |
| Total | 378,646 | 100.00 | 60 | ±0 | ||
| Source: Election Commission of India[4] | ||||||
a The HSPDP won 8 seats in the 1972 election, but the party's representatives were recorded as independents at the time of that election.[1]
b Two candidates from the PDIC were elected, but the party had not obtained registration in time for the election; the party's representatives were recorded as independents in the official results.[5]
References
- Warjri, Antarwell (March 2017). "Role of Regional Political Parties and Formation of the Coalition Governments in Meghalaya" (PDF). International Journal of Humanities & Social Science Studies. 3 (5): 206–218.
- Staff (2008-11-18). "Former Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Pugh dies". Oneindia.com. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
- Joshi, Hargovind (2004). Meghalaya: Past and Present. Mittal Publications. p. 292. ISBN 978-81-7099-980-5.
- "Meghalaya 1978". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
- Gupta, Susmita Sen (2005). Regionalism in Meghalaya. South Asian Publishers. p. 118. ISBN 978-81-7003-288-5.