(Combining related stories)

National People’s Party (NPP) president Conrad K Sangma on Friday called on Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan and submitted to him the letter of support of 32 MLAs, while staking claim to form the government in the northeastern state.

Sangma, the outgoing chief minister, said he has the support of BJP, HSPDP and two Independent MLAs, while asserting the total tally may go up in the coming days as he is in touch with other parties as well.

He said the oath-taking ceremony will take place at 11 am on March 7 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his consent to be present on the occasion.

“I have submitted to the governor the letter of support of different parties. In all, we have the support of 32 MLAs. Apart from NPP’s 26 legislators, two each are from the BJP and HSPDP, besides two Independent lawmakers,” Sangma said.

“All of them have signed the letter. We are talking to some more parties and their MLAs. So, the number is likely to go up in the coming days,” he said.

The NPP supremo claimed that different parties have approached him to support the government led by his party.

He, however, said the name of the new alliance has not been decided yet.

Asked about opposition charges that HSPDP MLAs were “hijacked” by the NPP, Sangma, “Nobody has hijacked anyone. We have their full support.”

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Earlier in the day, high drama was witnessed as various parties including the Trinamool Congress, Congress, UDP, PDF and VPP, held parleys on staking claim to form a ‘non-NPP, non-BJP’ government.

TMC leader Mukul Sangma said they were trying to “save Meghalaya from corrupt leaders”.

UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh said the party did not receive any invitation from the NPP to join hands to stake claim to form the government.

The two HSPDP MLAs who swore allegiance to the Sangma-led bloc were conspicuous in their absence in the meetings of the non-BJP, non-NPP parties.

The NPP emerged the single-largest party in Meghalaya, bagging 26 of the 59 seats that went to polls on February 27. The BJP, HSPDP and the PDF won two seats each, while two Independent candidates also emerged victorious.

The UDP, which was NPP’s ally in the Conrad K Sangma government, emerged as the second-largest party, winning 11 constituencies.

The Congress and the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC won five seats each.

The newly formed Voice of the People Party (VPP) won four seats, while the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the People’s Democratic Front won two seats each.

Submitted the letter of resignation as Chief Minister of Meghalaya to Hon’ble Governor, Sh. Shri Phagu Chauhan Ji, also staking a claim to form the new Government. pic.twitter.com/Lw1VOSzpfT

— Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) March 3, 2023

In an interview to PTI shortly after staking claim to form government led by the National People’s Party (NPP), its supremo Sangma said he wants to “do things differently”.

“There will be special focus on the youth, farming, tourism, the overall infrastructure and issues related with health. These will be our priority,” he said.

The state government has also been focusing on ensuring that implementation of programmes and schemes are done in a proper manner, Sangma said.

“We have always stressed on that. So, it is not that we need to do new things or different things, but we need to do things differently. That’s been our mantra,” he said.

Asked about the initial project the new government will start work on, the NPP leader said it will be decided in the first meeting of the state cabinet.

On when he will announce the list of political parties extending support to the NPP, Sangma said: “By today evening.”

He also said that some of the earlier partners will be in the new government.