Conrad all set to be Meghalaya CM; two claimants in Nagaland

SHILLONG/KOHIMA: Conrad Sangma, chief of the National People's Party is all set to be the next Chief Minister of Meghalaya. Conrad, who will be sworn in on Tuesday, will not have a deputy, BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, announced after Conrad staked claim to form the government and received an invite. Meghalaya is the second state, after Goa, where the Congress has not been able to stitch a coalition in time despite emerging as the largest single party. As he came out of his meeting with Governor Ganga Prasad, Sangma underlined that "it's not about being single largest, it's about having the majority". Sarma said the BJP-back coalition would have 34 lawmakers.

Conrad Sangma, who was earlier said to reluctant to be projected as his party's presumptive chief minister, said he agreed to assume the responsibility at the insistence of the coalition partners. He is the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma who founded the NPP that is now run by the Sangma family.

A late afternoon announcement by Dr Donkupar Roy of the United Democratic Party pledging his support to a government led by the 40-year-old cleared the decks for the NPP-led coalition staking claim.

There was high drama at Dr Roy's house earlier in the day when outgoing Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma reached his house around the same time to seek his support.

The NPP-led coalition has claimed support of 34 lawmakers in the assembly including 6 of the United Democratic Party, four of the People's Democratic Front and two each from the Hill State People's Democratic Party and the BJP. An independent lawmaker has also joined the coalition, Biswa said.

Congress Mukul Sangma later taunted the BJP for attempting to form the government with just two members. "They want to fire from the shoulder of other political parties," the outgoing chief minister told reporters after submitting his resignation from the post.

Meanwhile, the issue of government formation in Nagaland took a new turn Sunday with both NDPP leader Neiphiu Rio and outgoing Chief Minister T R Zeliang of the NPF staking claim to form the government with the support of a majority of the MLAs in the 60-member Assembly.

State Governor P B Acharya gave both the leaders 48 hours time to submit the signatures of the MLAs supporting them.

Earlier in the day, the governor said the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader Rio, who claimed the support of 32 MLAs, had the majority and should form the government.

After meeting Zeliang, Acharya told reporters that Rio and Zeliang have claimed to have majority support, but "I have not invited anyone to form the government as of now. I have given them 48 hours time to submit the signatures of the elected members supporting them".

Acharya had earlier said he asked Rio to submit signatures of all the 32 MLAs supporting him by Monday.

Meanwhile, outgoing Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar submitted his resignation to Governor Tathagata Roy here on Sunday; the BJP-IPFT coalition dethroned a day after the CPI(M)-led Left Front after nearly 25 years in power.