New Meghalaya cabinet to have 8 NPP ministers, says Conrad Sangma

National People's Party (NPP) president Conrad K Sangma on Monday said his party will have eight ministers in the next Meghalaya government headed by him, while its allies will get four ministerial berths.

The NPP's ally UDP will have two ministers, while the BJP and the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) will get one each, Sangma who is the outgoing chief minister told reporters after a meeting with alliance partners.

According to the rule, Meghalaya with a 60-member assembly cannot have more than 12 ministers including the CM.

The NPP president, who is scheduled to take oath as the chief minister on Tuesday, has the support of 45 legislators. Sangma staked claim to form the government in the northeastern state.

During the meeting of allies of the NPP-led coalition, the first decision that was unanimously taken was to call it the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance 2.0 since partners are the same. The chief minister will be the chairman of the alliance, Sangma said.

The distribution of cabinet berths among the coalition partners was also finalised, he said.

Of the 12-member cabinet, eight will be from the NPP, while two will go to the UDP and one each to the HSPDP and the BJP, Sangma said.

He said the name of the ruling coalition's Speaker candidate will be announced after further consultation with allies, he said.

The NPP became the single-largest party winning 26 seats in the recently held election.

The UDP bagged 11 seats while the BJP, HSPDP, and the People's Democratic Front (PDF) got two seats each. Besides them, two Independent members also extended support to Sangma.

The newly elected members of the Meghalaya assembly took oath on Monday with pro-tem speaker Timothy D Shira administering the oath of office and secrecy to them.