New Delhi: Congress on March 2 night staked claim to form a coalition government in Meghalaya but grappled with the leadership issue in Himachal Pradesh in the wake of a hotted up race for Chief Ministership even as decks were cleared for the installation of the first non-Congress government in Nagaland in a decade.

D D Lapang, senior leader of Congress which emerged as the single-largest party with 22 seats in a hung 60-member Meghalaya Assembly, met Governor M M Jacob and put forward his claim to form government with a list of 38 MLAs, including those from allies United Democratic Party (UDP), Meghalaya Democratic Party (MDP) and three independents.

Lapang, the 60-year-old veteran Congressman who had served as Deputy Chief Minister in the outgoing government, was accompanied by presidents of UDP and MDP E K Mawlong and S D Khongyar and the independents.

After the meeting with Jacob, Lapang told reporters that he had submitted the list of the MLAs supporting a government led by him.

He said a joint meeting of the MLAs of Congress, UDP and MDP as well as the independent Legislators would be held on March 3 to formally elect their new leader paving the way for a new Chief Minister.

Lapang said the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM), which has two MLAs, is also likely to give written undertaking on March 3 backing a coalition government headed by him.

PTI