The development is a major boost for West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has been trying to expand her party's footprint beyond her native state.
Dr Mukul Sangma on Tuesday took oath as the chief minister of Meghalaya, replacing veteran Congress leader D D Lapang, who quit as the Congress Legislative Party leader on Monday night after losing the support of 21 of the Congress' 28 Members of Legislative Assembly in the 60-member state assembly.Governor Ranjit Sekhar Musahary administered the oath of office to Dr Sangma and three other cabinet ministers at a ceremony held at the Raj Bhawan in Shillong today afternoon.
Mukul Sangma was on Friday re-elected as the leader of the Congress Legislature Party and is set to become the 23rd chief minister of the state. The Congress, which won 29 seats, two short of an absolute majority, held its first CLP meeting at a hotel in Shillong.
Here's how our netas fared in the elections.
Twelve of the 17 Congress MLAs in the Meghalaya Assembly on Thursday joined the Trinamool Congress, dealing a body blow to the grand old party in the northeastern state, their leader and former chief minister Mukul Sangma said.
The sports department of Meghalaya denied permission to the Bharatiya Janata Party to host an election rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the PA Sangma Stadium in Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma's home constituency of South Tura, citing construction work at the venue.
The ruling National People's Party (NPP) in Meghalaya won 26 seats, but fell four short of the halfway mark of 31.
They will, however, remain in the Congress, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ampareen Lyngdoh said.
They are actively engaging with the party leadership for the past some time but the party is yet to take a call, the sources said, adding the MPs include one from the north of the country and one from south.
The former Meghalaya chief minister, who recently switched over to the TMC along with 11 other Congress MLAs, told PTI in an interview that the political dynamics in the entire region is going to change with him quitting the grand old party.
Sangma, the outgoing chief minister, said he has support of the BJP, the 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.
The first election that the US and UK-trained Conrad Sangma, who now runs the National People's Party (NPP) formed by his father PA Sangma, fought in 2004 had resulted in a narrow defeat.
Polling for assembly polls is underway in Meghalaya and Nagaland, northeastern states the Bharatiya Janata Party rules in alliance with regional powers.
BJP Meghalaya in-charge Chuba Ao said the party's 'Congress mukt campaign' is valid for the state and hence the party will seek clarification from the chief minister.
Six non-Congress parties and an independent MLA constitute the MDA government.
The desertion by more than two-thirds of the Congress legislative party makes TMC, a newbie in Meghalaya, the principal opposition in the Northeastern state.
All eyes are on the parties to see which of them can stake claim to power.
Admitting that he has 'lost majority' in the Congress Legislature Party, Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang on Sunday said he is ready to quit, paving the way for his deputy Mukul Sangma to take over the reins.
Conrad Sangma on Friday evening submitted the letter of support to Meghalaya Governor Phagu Chauhan at Raj Bhawan signed by 32 MLAs of NPP, BJP, Hill State People's Democratic Party and two Independents.
In a press conference later in the day Sangma said that any resolution that is decided upon should be acceptable to the people.
Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi said on Thursday that his party has not accepted the Trinamool Congress's proposal of a merger as it does not want to compromise on its Assamese identity.
A person was also arrested in connection with the blast that took place on Sunday evening at the entrance of one of the shops at Police Bazaar, he said.
Exit polls by various channels predicted a hung house in Meghalaya, a win for the NDPP backed by the BJP in Nagaland, the two states that went to polls on Monday, and seemed to oscillate between predicting a clean sweep for the BJP to a hung house in the state of Tripura, where a new party the Tipra Motha may emerge as a potential king-maker in the polls, held a week back.
'The Congress don't have the zeal to fight the BJP. The party is so bogged down by infighting that it hardly has time or energy to build an opposition. The UPA does not exist'
The 60-member Meghalaya assembly had 30 Congress MLAs. Friday's resignation comes days after another Congress MLA, P N Syiem, resigned from the party.
Over 83 per cent of the more than 13 lakh electorate cast their vote on Monday in the single-day Nagaland state election which passed off by and large peacefully, Chief Electoral Officer V Shashank Shekhar said.
Uncertain political times in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura.
Most chief ministers chose to miss a high-level conference, convened to thrash out challenging issues on public order and policing, with only seven state leaders attending it.
'...despite not being ideologically aligned with a vast section of the people of the north east.' 'But the results in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya show that no party, including the BJP, can say that it has really done well.'
Congress leaders Rowell Lyngdoh and Roytre C Laloo will hold the post of deputy chief minister in the new Meghalaya government which will have 11 ministers.
Polling began to elect 60 members to the ninth Meghalaya Assembly from among 345 candidates on Saturday with an electorate of 15.3 lakh.
The All India Congress Committee, have finally zeroed in on 60 candidates for the forthcoming election to 60-member Meghalaya Assembly from a pool of too many ticket aspirants. Meghalaya Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma's wife Dikanchi D Shira and his brother Zenith Sangma are among those who have made to the list of final 60 party candidates for the election in the northeastern hill state.
Claiming that he and his party workers have got threats from militants, a Congress legislator in Meghalaya has dispatched a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi seeking her intervention.
In a scathing attack on Presidential candidate P A Sangma, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Monday questioned his claim of representing the tribals in the Presidential poll saying the former Lok Sabha speaker "can't behave like a rogue element".
With Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma pressing for Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the death of his niece Dana Sangma, Amity University on Friday dismissed allegations that the student, who allegedly committed suicide after being caught with a mobile phone during an exam, was discriminated against.
The party brought back Yashwant Sinha as its national vice-president.
The Election Commission has shot down a proposal by the Meghalaya government for early polls in the state, official sources said on Thursday.
Security in Meghalaya's Garo Hills region has been beefed up ahead the visit of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of state for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju tomorrow, an official said on Tuesday. Security beefed up in Garo Hills for Rajnath's visit.
The Meghalaya administration on Thursday began culling of chickens in and around a government-run farm in East Garo Hills district following reports of Bird flu there, Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said.
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