National People's Party (NPP) legislator Agatha Sangma on Monday resigned as the member of Meghalaya Assembly, paving the way for Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to contest the by-election and continue in the post.
Agatha, who is the youngest sister of Conrad and daughter of former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma, submitted her resignation letter to Assembly Deputy Speaker Timothy Dalbot Shira in the presence of NPP legislator Thomas Sangma.
The resignation followed as veteran Congress legislator Martin Danggo resigned as member of Meghalaya Assembly as well as from the primary membership of the Congress on Friday to join the ruling NPP.
"I have resigned as member of the Meghalaya assembly to pave way for the Chief Minister to contest the by-election from South Tura assembly seat. I have vacated the seat in the interest of the people of my constituency and the state as a whole," she told IANS.
Agatha, a former Union Minister, had defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Billy Kid Sangma by a margin of 1,603 votes in the February 27 assembly elections.
Asked if she would return to national politics, Agatha said: "We haven't decided on that but let's cross that bridge when we come to it."
Agatha's foray into electoral politics began with the 2008 Lok Sabha by-poll after her father vacated the Tura parliamentary seat for her. She retained the Lok Sabha in 2009 election and was inducted as a Minister of State in the UPA-2 Manmohan Singh Cabinet
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Conrad, the lone NPP Lok Sabha member from Tura constituency, who was sworn as the 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya on March 6, is a non-elected member to the 60-member assembly.
Conrad assumed the top post of Meghalaya, which is father had held for a short period, after the regional parties -- United Democratic Party, People's Democratic Front and Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) -- decided to support the NPP in forming the government on condition that the NPP leader would be the Chief Minister.
Two BJP legislators, lone Nationalist Congress Party member and two Independent legislators are also supporting the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government.
Conrad, who took oath as Chief Minister on March 6, should be elected as member of the Meghalaya Assembly by September 5.
In the House, the ruling NPP's strength has now gone down to 19, while the opposition Congress has emerged as the single-largest party with 20 members.
--IANS
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