Conrad Sangma Likely To Take Oath As Meghalaya CM On March 7, Govt To Focus On Youth And Tourism

Conrad Sangma is likely to take oath as Meghalaya CM on March 7 with support from the BJP. However, the Congress has slammed the alliance as the BJP had accused NPP of graft before the polls.

NPP president and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma's new government in the state will adopt a multi-pronged approach and focus in the areas of youth, farming, tourism, infrastructure, and health. Conrad Sangma, who submitted his letter of resignation as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya to Governor Phagu Chauhan on Friday, while staking his claim to form the next government, is likely to take oath on March 7.

"We've been communicated that Union Home Minister Amit Shah and maybe PM will attend the swearing-in ceremony. We are waiting for the confirmation from PMO," Sangma said.

"The BJP has given us its formal support. We will meet the Governor and request him to call us and invite the National People’s Party (NPP) to form the government. BJP and other political parties have given their support. We have numbers to form government," he said before meeting the Governor.

He, however, declined to divulge the exact number of many political parties supporting his candidature.

Speaking on his government's focus, Sangma said, "There will be special focus on youth, farming, tourism, the overall infrastructure and issues related with health. These will be our priority."

Sangma said the government will focus on ensuring proper implementation of programmes and schemes. "We have always stressed on that. So, it is not that we need to do new things or different things, but we need to do things differently. That's been our mantra," he was quoted as saying by PTI.

The ruling National People's Party (NPP) in Meghalaya emerged as the single-largest party in the state on Thursday, winning 26 seats out of the 59 constituencies. However, it fell short of gaining a majority in the 60-member assembly. The state which was heading towards a hung assembly.

Meanwhile, the BJP, which had brought in star campaigners, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief J P Nadda, and Home Minister Amit Shah, managed to win only two seats. Just a month ago, the BJP had campaigned against the NPP, accusing Sangma of engaging in corruption. Shah alleged that Sangma had stopped passing on the benefits of central schemes to the party.

"People in Assam, Tripura and Manipur getting government jobs on merit. But in Meghalaya, there is no government job without corruption. We spent Rs 5,000 crore for the construction of the National Highway in Northeast, but no proper highway was made here," Shah was quoted as saying by news agency ANI before the election.

However, after the election, the BJP said that it would support the NPP to form the government.

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma met Sangma in Guwahati a day before the counting of votes, a move which many say was instrumental in stitching the post-poll alliance. As the counting of votes entered the last phase, Sarma took to Twitter to announce the BJP's decision.

Announcing the decision on Thursday, Sarma tweeted that BJP national president JP Nadda had advised the post-poll alliance to form the government in Meghalaya.

The Congress was quick to slam NPP's decision to seek the support of BJP to form the next government. Congress called it NPP's "paradox" as the saffron party's central leadership had described the Conrad K Sangma dispensation as one of the "most corrupt" in the country. "There lies the paradox. Union Home Minister Amit Shah says that this (NPP) is the most corrupt government. How can they work with the same party?" Congress MLA Ronny V Lyngdoh was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.