SHILLONG, June 23 – Majority of 41-member Meghalaya council of Ministers today tendered their registration letters to Chief Minister DD Lapang to enable him to complete the mandatory ministry down-sizing exercise before the July 5 deadline.
Confirming the receipt of the registration letters, sources close to the Chief Minister said “a handful of Ministers who are yet to submit their papers are expected to comply with the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) resolution asking all the Ministers to submit their resignations by June 25 to facilitate Lapang to carry out the exercise smoothly”.
The jumbo-size ministry has to be pruned to 12 by July 5 under the Anti-Defection Act. The resignations will make the task of Lapang easier as now he is required to accept the resignations of those Ministers who need to be asked while returning the quit letters to those who will be retained.
A senior Minister, who tendered his resignation this evening predicted that the new ministry will definitely include the ‘coterie’ which include five Congress Cabinet Ministers including Friday Lyngdoh, JD Rymbai, RG Lyngdoh, Dr Mukul Sangma and Deborah Marak, who will probably be the only women in the new ministry.
One more berth is likely to be given to Garo Hills resulting in a tussle among the three Congress aspirants viz. Sateedullah Nongrum, Cyprian R Sangma and Manirul Sarkar for the post. Given his experience and seniority, Nongrum has an edge over the others.
With the Congress deciding not to ditch the regional party allies, the UDP, MDP and KHNAM are almost certain to get one berth each in the new 12-member council of ministers which will be announced on July 5.