Meghalaya Governor invites NPP chief Conrad Sangma to form govt, swearing-in on Tuesday

Pic courtesy: Twitter/@SangmaConrad

Shillong: NPP president Conrad Sangma on Monday said he has been invited by Meghalaya Governor Ganga Prasad to form the government in the state.

The swearing-in of the ministers would take place at 10.30 am tomorrow (Tuesday), he said.

Confirming this, a Raj Bhavan official said, "The governor has extended an invitation to Conrad Sangma to form the government as he has the support of 34 MLAs," PTI reported.

Sangma met the Governor on Sunday evening and staked claim to form the government with the support of 34 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly.

After the meeting, he had said, "We met the governor and submitted a letter of support from 34 MLAs - 19 of the NPP, six of the United Democratic Party (UDP), four of the People's Democratic Front (PDF), two each of the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the BJP and an Independent."

Sangma also met Regional Democratic Alliance chairman Donkupar Roy at his residence. 

Conrad (40) is the youngest son of former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma, who died in 2016. He was elected a Member of Parliament in a bypolls from the Tura constituency after his father's death.

Meghalaya threw up a fractured mandate on Saturday with the Congress emerging as the largest party, marginally ahead of its rival, the National Peoples Party (NPP), an ally of the BJP at the Centre and in Manipur.

The Congress, which has been in power in the state for the last 10 years, won 21 seats out the 59 that went to polls on February 27, 2018. The figure is 10 short of a simple majority.

The party had staked claim to form the government in the state at a meeting with the governor, officials and party leaders had said. A delegation of three central leaders of the Congress - Kamal Nath, Ahmed Patel and CP Joshi had met the governor on Saturday.

Meanwhile, breaking his silence on the defeat in three Northeast states, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said on Monday that the party was committed to winning back the people's trust and hit out at the BJP, accusing it of "usurping" power through proxy in Meghalaya and using "big money" to create an "opportunistic alliance".

Meghalaya had been under Congress rule and after losing the state, the party is now in power in three other states, including Karnataka and Puducherry.

(With PTI inputs)