Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma
Less than six months left for the next state assembly elections, and Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Friday inducted two new ministers in his cabinet after having dropped two senior ministers one day ago. The two new ministers who were sworn in by governor Banwari Lal Purohit in the Shillong Raj Bhavan on Friday are Celestine Lyngdoh and Comingone Ymbon, both of whom were so long parliamentary secretaries. Lyngdoh and Ymbon have replaced Prestone Tynsong and Sniawbhalang Dhar, two senior ministers whom chief minister Sangma had dropped on Thursday following allegations of anti-party activities.
While Celestine Lyngdoh will be the new minister of Public Health Engineering (PHE), Comingone Ymbon will look after the Community & Rural Development (C&RD) department, official sources in Shillong said.
Tynsong, who had remained a cabinet minister for about 13 years under three chief ministers, had played a major role in installing Mukul Sangma as chief minister by ousting DD Lapag in April 2010. This time round, there have been allegations that he was involved in anti-party activities and was in connection with the BJP and the National People’s Party (NPP) in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in the state. Sniawbhalang Dhar, the other minister who was dropped, had reportedly projected a rival candidate against senior cabinet minister RC Laloo in West Jaintia Hills district who is close to the chief minister.
