Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA) Convenor and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Sunday announced that Conrad Sangma will be the next Chief Minister of Meghalaya and there will be no Deputy Chief Minister for the state.
The Congress had met the Governor last night and staked claimed to form the government, but is short of majority with no local parties yet offering support.
Led by Conrad Sangma, National People’s Party is looking to form a “secular non-Congress government” which will be sworn in on Tuesday. Its partners will include BJP, United Democratic Party (UDP) and Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP), whose support was crucial in tilting the balance for NPP. After night-long negotiations, NPP and BJP managed to win over legislators from three regional parties and an independent.
In the newly elected House, NPP has 19 legislators while UDP has six, PDF four, HSPDP and BJP two each and one Independent.
After his meeting with the governor, Conrad, elder son of late P A Sangma who was the Lok Sabha Speaker, said, “Running a coalition government is never easy but I am confident that the MLAs who are with us are committed to the state and its people, and will work for the development of the state. The next two-three days are crucial because the assembly term gets over by March 7. Everything has to take place before that.” Sarma added. (Agencies)