By IANS,
Shillong: New Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul M. Sangma left Wednesday for New Delhi to finalise with the Congress high command the names of the remaining eight members of his council of ministers.
“I am going to New Delhi to get the list of the remaining eight ministers approved by the Congress high command with madam (Sonia Gandhi),” Sangma told IANS.
The chief minister is accompanied by state Congress chief Friday Lyngdoh, legislators Francis Pondit R. Sangma, Ronnie V. Lyngdoh and senior party leader O.L. Nongtdu.
According to party sources, the remaining eight ministers would be mainly from the Congress.
The probables include Rowell Lyngdoh, H.D.R. Lyngdoh, Shitlang Pale, and Frankenstein W. Momin. Senior Congress legislator Sayeedulah Nongrum and first-time legislator Sniawbhalang Dhar are also vying for a ministerial berth.
Former ministers in the ousted D.D. Lapang cabinet – Martin M. Danggo, Prestone Tynsong and Ampareen Lyngdoh, the lone woman legislator – are also in the list of probables, the sources said.
“I can’t reveal the names, but will know soon after madam (Gandhi) approves the list,” Sangma said.
A Congress legislator told IANS: “We don’t know who will be made ministers, but we hope that the chief minister makes no mistakes in selecting his team.”
The Lapang government collapsed after 14 Congress legislators asked him to sack two independents – Ismail R. Marak and Limison Sangma – and Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) leader Paul Lyngdoh from the cabinet.
They wanted Congress members to be included in the cabinet in their place. When Lapang failed to do so, the rebels pressed for his removal.
Mukul M. Sangma, who took oath as chief minister Tuesday, is heading the five-party Congress-United Democratic Party coalition government.
Sangma was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor R.S. Mooshahary at Raj Bhavan. Three other ministers – A.T. Mondal (Independent), J.A. Lyngdoh and Bindo Mathew Lanong of the United Democratic Party – were also sworn in.
Lanong was sworn in as deputy chief minister. The trio had been part of the D.D. Lapang ministry as well.
In the 60-member legislature, the Congress has 28 legislators and has the support of 10 UDP members, five independents and one KHNAM legislator. The main opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has 15 members.