Shillong, March 6: The National People’s Party (NPP) today decided to keep 8 out of 12 cabinet berths in the newly formed Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA-2.0) while two berths will go to the United Democratic Party (UDP) and one each for the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
However, the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) has been kept out of the cabinet.
After chairing the first meeting of the alliance, Conrad K Sangma told reporters that all partners have agreed to call the alliance as the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA-2.0). The alliance will be headed by him as its chairman.
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“Also, we have decided that in the cabinet, out of 12 members, 8 will go to the NPP, 2 will go to the UDP, 1 will go to the HSPDP and 1 will go to the BJP. This is the format of the sharing of the cabinet berths,” he said while adding that the PDF is not in the cabinet.
“Out of these 12 cabinet berths, four including the chief minister will be from the Garo Hills region and 8 of the cabinet ministers will be from the Khasi and Jaintia Hills regions,” Sangma also added.
Further, the NPP chief informed that a resolution was also passed within the party regarding the candidature for the Speaker’s post and the election.
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“The NPP has proposed the name and they have entrusted me to speak to the rest of the coalition partners to formalize the name and once I have spoken to the coalition partners and get their consent, we will be announcing the name of the candidate for the Speaker’s post,” he said.
Sangma said that the MDA will again sit to decide on the nitty-gritty of the common minimum programme, coordination committee and other aspects.
NNN
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