Meghalaya Chief Minsiter Conrad Sangma submitted his resignation to Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan on Friday and staked claim to form a new government.
According to an India Today report, he is likely to take oath as the Chief Minister on March 7 at a ceremony that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend, according to officials. The outgoing chief minister claimed that he has an "absolute majority with 32 MLAs" on his side in the 60-member assembly but refused to give details of supporting parties.
In the assembly election results of three Northeast Indian states on Thursday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained power in Tripura and Nagaland, whereas the Conrad Sangma-led National People's Party (NPP) emerged as the single-largest party in Meghalaya but fell short of the majority mark of 31. The BJP has decided to back Sangma.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sangma on his party's impressive show in the Meghalaya polls, and said he looked forward to working together with him for the state's progress. "I would like to congratulate Shri @SangmaConrad for his Party's commendable performance in the Meghalaya Assembly Polls. My friend, late Shri PA Sangma Ji would have been very proud. Looking forward to continuing working together for Meghalaya's progress," he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
