Shillong: Bah Paul Lyngdoh was sworn in as a cabinet minister in Meghalaya on Monday, with Governor C.H. Vijayashankar administering the oath at a ceremony attended by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and Deputy Chief Ministers Prestone Tynsong and Sniawbhalang Dhar.
The induction follows the resignation of Metbah Lyngdoh, president of the United Democratic Party, who submitted his papers to the chief minister. The ruling coalition leadership then moved to fill the vacant ministerial berth with Paul Lyngdoh.
On Tuesday, Sangma told reporters that portfolio allocation would be settled within a day. "I will be taking the decision in a day or so. Kindly allow me to do that. Once that is done, the decision on what portfolios will be given to him will be made in due course. I have not come to my final conclusion. By tomorrow, I expect that you should be able to know about the portfolios," he said.
Asked whether the cabinet was now settled, he did not rule out further changes. "Politics is always very fragile, and many things keep happening. We never thought that this kind of situation would happen, but it did. So, I do not write off anything. But in a normal circumstance, we don't expect anything more to happen right now," Sangma said.
He confirmed that three sitting MDCs from the Trinamool Congress would join the National People's Party on November 4. "Yes, we will be having three of these sitting MDCs from the TMC who are joining us on the fourth," he said, adding that no TMC MLA had approached the party.
Sangma also denied that the government had pressured Metbah Lyngdoh to quit. "Not at all. To be very frank, sometimes in politics, you have to take decisions which are not always pleasing," he said, adding that the UDP leader had told him personally that continuing in the cabinet felt morally inappropriate after the departure of 11 MLAs.
Eight UDP MLAs merged with the BJP in September and three with the NPP, cutting the party from 12 legislators to one.