Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K. Sangma took oath as member of the 10thMeghalaya Legislative Assembly from South Tura Assembly constituencyon Wednesday.
Assembly Speaker, Donkupar Roy administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly elected MLA of South Tura at his chamber at Khyndai Lad here in the presence ministers and MLAs ofvthe ruling coalition Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
With the swearing-in of Conrad, the 10th Meghalaya Assembly now has a complete 60 members.
Conrad got elected as the MLA of South Tura constituency in the bye election held on August 23 which confirmed his position as Chief Minister.
Conrad defeated his nearest Congress rival Charlotte W. Momin by a record margin of 8,421 votes.
Conrad resigned as Lok Sabha member from Tura Parliamentary constituencyon Tuesday.
The Tura MP who is also the national president of the National People’s Party (NPP) handed over his resignation to Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan in New Delhi.
Following the demise of his father and former Lok Sabha Speaker, late Purno Agitok Sangma who has been the Lok Sabha member from Tura parliamentary seat for over four decades, Conrad was elected as member of the Lok Sabha from Tura in the bye election on May 16, 2016 where he won by a record margin of 1.92 lakh votes.
It is mandatory for Conrad to quit as member of the 16thLok Sabha after having been elected as the MLA of South Tura constituency.
As Chief Minister, Conrad is leading the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government which has the strength of 39 members including the Speaker in the 60-member Assembly.
The six-party MDA government comprised of the NPP (20), United Democratic Party (7), People’s Democratic Front (4), BJP (2), Hill State People’s Democratic Party (2), Nationalist Congress Party (1) and three Independents.
The lone Khun Hynñiewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) legislator from North Shillong constituency, Adelbert Nongrum has not either supported the ruling coalition or part of the Opposition Congress which has 20 MLAs.
