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A matrilineal state sans a woman minister! Sounds surprising! But this is a fact. And it has raised many an eyebrow.

Altogether 12 ministers were sworn in on March 6 in Meghalaya. All of them are male. Change of guard in Meghalaya has seen woman being left out in the ministry.

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In the previous Congress-led government in Meghalaya, there were three women ministers โ€” Ampareen Lyngdoh, Deborah Marak and Roshan Warjri.  This time around, only Agatha Sangma from NPP is on the right side of the table, while the other two elected women legislators โ€“ Ampareen Lyngdoh and Dikkanchi Shira belong to Congress.

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Agatha has the experience of running the Rural Development Ministry as junior minister during Dr Manmohan Singh regime. Before the election she even told Northeast Now, โ€œI was extremely lucky to be the Member of Parliament at a young age and a central minister. I met different people and visited a lot of places during my tenure as an MP. I have learnt a lot from different parts of the world. I feel that my experience would enable me to bring good to the people of South Tura and the state of Meghalaya.โ€

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In fact, non-representation of woman in the new Meghalaya ministry has become a hot topic of discussion. Those who keep track of latest political developments were quick to point out Congress president Rahul Gandhiโ€™s remarks on empowering women before the election.

In his election campaign in Shillong, Congress president Rahul Gandhi hit out at RSS saying their idea is aimed at dis-empowering women. โ€œDoes anyone know many leadership positions are with women in RSS? Zero,โ€ Rahul said.

The Congress president even invited the woman folk to join the party in Meghalaya so that the party gets more and more women to choose from.

โ€œWe expected Agatha in the ministry as she is the lone female face from the ruling NPP but her exclusion has  surprised us,โ€ a college student, who had voted for the first time in this election, told Northeast Now.