Meghalaya votes on February 27
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma-led National People's Party is leaving no stone unturned to return to power in Meghalaya for a second consecutive term. The ruling party could face a tough battle as it's going to fight polls this time without an alliance. In 2018, the National People's Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), with support from BJP and United Democratic Party (UDP), formed the government.
Voting for the 60-member Legislative Assembly will be held in a single phase along with Nagaland on February 27. The election results for the three northeastern states of Meghalaya, Tripura, and Nagaland will be announced on March 2.
Here are five points about Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.
• Conrad K Sangma is the national president of the National People's Party (NPP). He is the son of PA Sangma, former Meghalaya Chief Minister and Lok Sabha speaker. Conrad Sangma took over as the NPP's president after the death of PA Sangma in March 2016.
• Conrad K Sangma was elected to the State Assembly for the first time in 2008 from the Selsella constituency as a Nationalist Congress Party candidate. He was made the finance minister and also held the portfolios of power and tourism.
• He also served as the Leader of Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly from 2009 to 2013.
• The NPP leader was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2016. He quit as a Member of Parliament after winning the Assembly by-election in 2018.
• In August 2018, Conrad K Sangma won the South Tura by-election defeating Charlotte W Momin of Congress by a margin of over 8,400 votes. The NPP chief bagged a total of 13,656 votes out of over 22,000 votes polled in the by-polls.
• Conrad K Sangma holds a bachelor's degree in Entrepreneurial Management from Wharton and an MBA in Finance from the University of London. He worked as a campaign manager for his father PA Sangma before entering into electoral politics.