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Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. Image - Twitter

The Regional Democratic Alliance (RDA), an alliance of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), has decided to invite the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) to be a part of the alliance.

At the meeting of the RDA held on Monday night in Shillong (Meghalaya), the two parties also decided that they should work together in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in 2019 though the issue related to common candidate is yet to be decided by all the six partners of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).

The meeting was also attended by leaders of the PDF, who sought time to discuss in the party the invitation to join the RDA. HSPDP legislator Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar said that the UDP and HSPDP would send their own candidates to the MDA Coordination Committee but both the parties have assured to work together after the selection of common candidate.

The MDA will also collectively assess who from among the candidates proposed by the partners has better chance of winning in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections to be held next year. The MDA Coordination Committee is likely to meet soon to take a call on the issue of common candidate.

Recently, at the meeting of the MDA Coordination Committee, it was decided that all the six political parties would propose the name of their own respective candidates so that the MDA can discuss and select one common candidate. The UDP has already projected Jemino Mawthoh as its candidate for the Shillong Parliamentary seat while the HSPDP is also projecting Tongkhar as its candidate.