Tura MP, Agatha K Sangma is likely to be inducted as a Minister of State in Narendra Modi-led government.
The first meeting of Council of Ministers of 2020 will be held from 5.30 pm on January 3 at the Pravasi Bharatiya Bhavan in New Delhi.
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The meeting assumes significance as important decisions on the first cabinet expansion of Modi government’s second term is likely to be taken up.
Speculations of cabinet expansion have been doing the rounds for quite some time now.
According to reports, the first cabinet expansion is likely to happen in the last week of January.
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There was no cabinet expansion after the Modi government came to power for the second time on May 30, 2019.
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The announcement for cabinet expansion was delayed because of the ongoing inauspicious period.
The inauspicious period which started from December 14 will be over on January 14.
On December 21, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held the last meeting of the Council of Ministers at the newly-inaugurated new Gujarat Bhawan.
Sources close to the corridors of power in New Delhi told Northeast Now on Wednesday that Agatha K. Sangma may be inducted as the third minister from the northeast.
At present, there are two ministers in Modi’s government from the northeast — Kiren Rijiju and Rameswar Teli.
Rijiju is the Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs, while Teli is MoS for Food processing.
Agatha K. Sangma, the youngest candidate from the northeast to be elected to the 17th Lok Sabha, is definitely the most deserving candidate to get a berth in Modi 2.0 government.
The youngest daughter of former Lok Sabha Speaker, Purno Agitok Sangma defeated former Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma in Tura by a margin of 1,15,234 votes.
Born on July 24, 1980, Agatha is smart, educated, articulate and people-friendly.
She got her degree in law from Pune University and joined the bar in Delhi High Court. Later, she did her Masters in Environmental Management at the University of Nottingham in the UK.
In addition to her political legacy, education and smartness, she is the second MP elected from NDA (apart from Kiren Rijiju of BJP) in the northeast to have the experience of working as a minister in the union government.
This is the third time Agatha has become a member of the Lok Sabha. In May 2008, she was first elected to the 14th Lok Sabha in a by-election, after her father P.A. Sangma resigned from the seat to return to state politics in Meghalaya.
She was again elected to the 15th Lok Sabha as a Nationalist Congress Party MP and was the youngest Minister of State (29 years) in the UPA 2 government led by Manmohan Singh.
As the minister of state for Rural Development, Agatha had given top-most priority to the villages of the northeast so that the areas could see some light of development.
Unfortunately, some of Agatha’s dreams to develop northeast remained unfulfilled because she had to resign as a minister of state from UPA 2 government in October 2012 due to changes in political equations.
The young MP from Tura has the experience of working as a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly as well.
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She contested as an NPP candidate from the prestigious South Tura constituency in 2018 and registered victory.
She was the chief whip of NPP in the Meghalaya assembly. But, Agatha had to vacate the seat for her brother, Conrad K. Sangma to contest the by-poll from her constituency.
While the young MP from Tura has blessings of her two politician brothers – James and Conrad, she always draws inspirations from her father to work for the people.
Agatha who got married on November 21, 2019, could not be contacted for comments on her induction as a minister.
The sources said in addition to Agatha K. Sangma, BJP MP from Mangaldoi, Dilip Saikia may also be inducted as a minister in Modi’s government.
Dilip Saikia is one of the oldest members of BJP, and as a student, he was a senior member of the ABVP.
It is also being claimed that Dilip Saikia’s name has been recommended by RSS leaders for induction as a minister.