Mukul Sangma was sworn in Chief Minister of Meghalaya on Tuesday, his 45th birthday. Governor Ranjit Sekhar Mooshahary administered the oath of office and secrecy to him at the Raj Bhavan in Shillong.
Dr. Sangma replaces D.D. Lapang, who resigned as Chief Minister on Monday night, bringing the curtains down on nearly month-long dissidence in the Congress. Twenty-one of the 28 Congress legislators had demanded his removal.
Along with Dr. Sangma, United Democratic Party (UDP) leader Bindo M. Lanong took oath as Deputy Chief Minister. Another UDP legislator J. Antonius Lyngdoh and an Independent MLA Abu Taher Mondal took oath as Cabinet Ministers. Both Dr. Sangma and Mr. Lanong served as Deputy Chief Ministers in the Lapang Cabinet.
Asked when he would expand his Cabinet, Dr. Sangma said he would leave for Delhi on Wednesday to get the list approved by the Congress leadership. He can take in 8 more members, as the size of the Ministry is limited to 12.
Dr. Sangma was unanimously elected CLP leader on Monday night after his name was proposed by Mr. Lapang in the presence of AICC observers Oscar Fernandes and Luizinho Faleiro.
Dr. Sangma is the fourth Chief Minister over the past two years, during which Mr. Lapang held the post for two terms and Donkupar Roy of the UDP for one term in the NCP-led government.
