Shillong: With old allies returning to support his government, Meghalaya’s chief minister-designate Conrad Sangma has said that he may not be able to “do everything for everyone” but the National People’s Party (NPP)-led alliance will work together.
“We have worked together in the past and will do so in future,” he told ThePrint Monday after taking oath as a member of the state’s 11th legislative assembly.
After days of intense drama and speculation, Sangma’s NPP, the BJP, the regional United Democratic Party (UDP), the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) are set to form the new Meghalaya government under the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) 2.0.
This will be the second consecutive term in office for the allies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the state government in Shillong Tuesday, which Conrad Sangma described as “a historic event”.
“PM Modi has supported the whole of the northeast. We are sure we will get the support of the central government in the future as well,” he told ThePrint.
While they contested the assembly election last month separately, the MDA allies came together in the days following the declaration of results on 2 March.
The NPP emerged as the biggest party in the election, with 26 of 59 seats (election to 1 seat was deferred after a candidate’s death). The BJP, meanwhile, won 2 seats.
The UDP and the PDF — with 11 and 2 MLAs, respectively — extended support to the NPP-BJP coalition Sunday.
Alongside the 2 MLAs of the HSPDP, and two Independents, the Conrad Sangma-led government has a comfortable majority of 45.
The incoming government will have 4 ministerial berths from Garo Hills and 8 from the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region, announced Sangma after a meeting with his coalition partners Monday afternoon. Of the 12 cabinet ministers, 8 will be from NPP, 2 from the UDP, and 1 each from the HSPDP and the BJP.
Speaking to ThePrint, UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh said they have made the right decision, “as of now”, to return to the NPP-led coalition.
“We are looking at the stability of the government, its performance. At the end of the day, they (NPP) have the numbers,” said Lyngdoh.
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‘Will adjust and adapt’
On his approach towards keeping the new coalition of old partners intact and solidifying the NPP’s gains in the future, Conrad Sangma told ThePrint, “We will adjust and adapt as we move along.”
“In the last five years, we have really tried to ensure that we carry everybody along. We tried to give space to everybody, we tried to also decentralise certain processes and decision-making as much as possible. So, when everybody became a part of the governance, it was not like one-man rule,” he added. “It was healthy. No system can be perfect. There will always be challenges and issues.”
He said it was “nice that old friends are back”.
“There were challenges. Election has been tough. A lot of things were said, and even though it should have been in controlled measure, we feel it’s best to leave everything behind,” he added. “Even though we had the numbers, we approached them (UDP and PDF) — because we would like to work together again.”
The 59 members of the House, including 3 women legislators and a number of first-time MLAs, were administered the oath of office by pro tem speaker Timothy D. Shira in a special session Monday.
A two-minute silence was observed as the House paid respects to the late HDR Lyngdoh, the former state home minister, who was the UDP candidate from Sohiong constituency of East Khasi Hills.
Former chief minister and TMC leader Mukul Sangma — along with 4 of his party legislators — is part of the 14-member opposition along with 5 members of the Congress and 4 of the Voice of People’s Party (VPP).
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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