NON -Congress Meghalaya Govt Headed By Conrad Sangma Will Be Sworn In Tomorrow

A  12- Member Council of Ministers of the non-Congress parties which have wrested power from decade-old Congress regime in just concluded assembly elections will take oath on Tuesday at Shillong. The Government will be headed by NPP President Conrad Sangma as the chief minister. Conrad, who is the Member of the Lok Sabha from Garo Hills’s Tura Constituency, will take oath along with other colleagues. He has been asked to prove majority in the floor of the assembly by March 16.The coalition has the support of 34 MLAs with NPP (19), UDP (6), HSPDP (2), PDF (4), BJP (2) and Independent Samuel Sangma. Notably, they have decided to for the coalition within 24 hours despite approached by the Congress which has emerged as the largest party in the 60-Member legislative assembly in the Christian dominated State. They are convinced that the mandate of the people is against the Congress rule. In view of the expiry of the term of the Assembly on March 7, it has been decided to have government before the deadline to avert a constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma and KJ Alphons reiterated that there was no inducement to attract the regional leaders as the deal was spontaneous. UDP president Donkupar Roy said the ultimate aim was to provide stability and hence, he found the non-Congress parties as the best forum considering the support it will get from the Centre. The leaders of the coalition called on Governor Ganga Prasad on Sunday evening and expressed the intent to form an NPP-led government. The NPP legislators have elected Conrad their leader and a letter in this regard was submitted to the governor along with the letters of support by other coalition partners. The Congress did make an attempt to form the next government on Saturday night and Sunday morning after the arrival of AICC leaders Mukul Wasnik, Kamal Nath, Ahmed Patel and CP Joshi. After several parleys, they left for Delhi unable to form a coalition with the regional parties. The AICC leaders wanted the governor to invite the single largest party to form the government. A constitutional expert said the governor has the discretion to call any group to form the government. Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, K J Alphons and Assam Finance Minister Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma also met the UDP leader and others to keep the Congress away from forming the government. Speaking to media persons after staking the claim, Conrad said from the beginning NPP was clear about providing good governance in Meghalaya, “which is missing for the past many years”.“We will also ensure transparency. Besides, we will see that there is proper implementation of the central government schemes and push for infrastructure development in the state,” he said. He also added that the new coalition government would work on framing policies in various sectors. Answering a question by a reporter if there was opposition to his selection as the chief minister, Conrad answered in the negative and said he was selected as the leader of the group with the consent of the coalition partners. The choice of Conrad was sudden as he was ready to go back to Delhi. “I came here just with a bag and two shirts and I was planning to go back tomorrow for Parliament Session,” he said. Conrad, 40, is the son of Purno Agitok Sangma, a former Meghalaya chief minister and Lok Sabha speaker.Sangma, son of ex-CM PA Sangma, held the finance, power and tourism portfolios between 2008 and 2009.He was Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly for four years from 2009.

Sangma, born in his ancestral home town Tura, is a BBA (Entrepreneurial Management) and an MBA (Finance). He is married to Mehtab Agitok Sangma, and has a daughter. His sister is Agatha Sangma who previously represented Tura in the Lok Sabha and MOS in the UPA Government. He has been elected to the State assembly. (Image Courtesy: NDTV)