Meghalaya: PM Modi to Attend Swearing-in Ceremony of Conrad Sangma, His Cabinet Colleagues on Tuesday

Conrad K Sangma said his party will have eight ministers in the next Meghalaya government headed by him, while its allies will get four ministerial berths.

The NPP’s ally UDP will have two ministers, while the BJP and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) will get one each, Sangma who is the outgoing chief minister told reporters after a meeting with alliance partners.

According to the rule, Meghalaya with a 60-member assembly cannot have more than 12 ministers including the CM.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma and his cabinet colleagues on Tuesday, officials said.

Sangma, the National Peoples Party chief will take the oath of office as chief minister for the second time on Tuesday after successfully leading his party to a major victory bagging 26 of the 59 seats in the February 27 election.

Fifty-eight newly elected members of the Meghalaya assembly took oath on Monday with pro-tem speaker Timothy D Shira administering the oath of office and secrecy to them.

Meghalaya has 60 assembly seats but polling in the Sohiong constituency was adjourned after the demise of UDP nominee H D R Lyngdoh. Shira, the MLA of Resubelpara, was sworn in, as the pro-tem speaker of the assembly, by Governor Phagu Chauhan at the Raj Bhavan on March 4. (PTI)

NPP head and outgoing chief minister Conrad K Sangma was present at the ceremony. The NPP-led alliance with 32 MLAs has staked claim to form the next government in the northeastern state, under the leadership of Sangma.

The swearing-in ceremony for the newly elected legislators in Meghalaya got underway on Monday morning, with pro-tem speaker Timothy D Shira administering the oath of office and secrecy to the MLAs. All the 59 legislators would take oath as MLAs of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.

Two major regional parties – the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) – on Sunday extended their support to the NPP-led alliance, increasing the number of MLAs backing the Conrad K Sangma-led coalition to 45.

The new House, with 59 members, will have its first sitting on Monday, when the pro-tem speaker administers the oath of office to the legislators, the official said. The House will be meeting again on March 9 for the election of speaker, commissioner and secretary of the assembly.

HSPDP MLA Methodius Dkhar’s office in Shillong was set on fire allegedly by members of his own party as he supported the NPP-BJP coalition, senior NPP leader Prestone Tynsong said on Saturday. Dkhar along with party MLA Shakliar Warjri on Friday pledged support to the NPP-BJP alliance, which staked claim to form the next government in the state under the leadership of Conrad K Sangma.

NPP leader Conrad Sangma thanked the BJP for extending support to NPP

Two Hill State People’s Democratic Party MLAs, who have won the elections, have also pledged their support to the NPP-BJP coalition, along with 2 other Independent legislators.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be arriving in Shillong on Tuesday to attend the oath-taking ceremony of the state CM.

PDF MLAs – Banteidor Lyngdoh and Gavin Mylliemngap – also met Sangma at his residence, on Saturday, and handed over their letter of support to him, party members said.

Two major regional parties – the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) – on Sunday extended their support to the NPP-led alliance, increasing the number of MLAs backing the Conrad K Sangma-led coalition to 45.

Senior NPP MLA Timothy D Shira was sworn in as the protem speaker of the Meghalaya assembly on Saturday

The House will be meeting again on March 9 for the election of speaker, commissioner and secretary of the Assembly, Andrew Simons, told PTI. The BJP-backed NPP-led alliance with 32 MLAs has staked claim to form the next government in Meghalaya.

The BJP and the HSPDP, with two MLAs each, besides two Independents, have already submitted their letter of support to the NPP, which has won a record 26 seats in the February 27 elections.

Two more parties — the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) — extended support to Meghalaya’s NPP alliance.

Newly elected MLAs in the state will be swearing in the cabinet on Monday, along with the election of the speaker. Protem speaker and senior NPP MLA Timothy D Shira will be administering the oath of office to the legislators.