NPP's Conrad Sangma set to become next Meghalaya CM, to take oath on March 6

National People's Party (NPP) is all set to form the Government in Meghalaya with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also being a part of it. Conrad Sangma will be sworn in as the Chief Minister on March 6.

The development took place after MLAs from regional parties and the BJP came together against the Congress, which emerged as the single largest party in the results declared on Saturday but has failed despite that. 

Conrad Sangma's National People's Party (NPP) had won 19 seats, while UDP and BJP managed to secure six and two seats respectively. 

Earlier today, Congress too staked claimed to form the government. According to sources, the party wrote a letter to Governor Ganga Prasad to stake the claim on power in the state. Another media report suggested the party leadership met the governor late last night and said they are single largest party to get votes and that they should be invited to form a government at the earliest. 

Also read | With Tripura, Nagaland in its kitty, BJP shifts focus on forming non-Congress government in Meghalaya

Here are the highlights:

7:44 pm: Meanwhile, BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav tweeted about the dates of the swearing in ceremony for the northeastern states.

7:37 pm: 

7:36 pm: 

7:30 pm: Currently we have 34 members, NPP -19, BJP-2, UDP-6, HSPDP-2, PDF-4 & 1-independent. Number likely to go up. Rahul Gandhi sent four senior leaders of the party to Shillong without any calculations on government formation. I don't see maturity in him: Himanta Biswa Sarma

7:25 pm: Currently we have 34 members, NPP -19, BJP-2, UDP-6, HSPDP-2, PDF-4 & 1-independent. Number likely to go up. Rahul Gandhi sent four senior leaders of the party to Shillong without any calculations on government formation. I don't see maturity in him: Himanta Biswa Sarma

6:47 pm: 1 MLA out of every 2 MLAs of all the parties will form part of the govt. So 1 MLA, out of the 2, of BJP will be a part of it too: Himanta Biswa Sarma

6:40 pm: Conrad Sangma will be the next chief minister of Meghalaya. There will be no Deputy CM in the new Government, says Himanta Biswa Sarma

6:35 pm: Running a coalition government is never easy but I am confident that the MLAs who are with us are very committed to the state and people, will work towards development of the state, says Conrad Sangma

6:30 pm: Next 2-3 days are very crucial because Assembly term gets over. The House expires on 7th before that everything has to take place and by tomorrow everything will be clear, says Conrad Sangma

6:20 pm: With support of 34 MLAs, BJP is all set to form Government in Meghalaya 

06:19 pm: Conrad Sangma met the Governor and submitted letter of support. Oath taking ceremony will take place on March 6th.

6:10 pm: Claiming support of 34 MLAs, BJP stakes claim before Governor to form Govt 

05:20 pm: Meanwhile, Congress submits a letter to Meghalaya Governor naming Mukul Sangma as the leader of the Meghalaya Congress Legislature Party.

05:15 pm: MLAs from NPP led by Conrad Sangma & those from UDP, BJP and HSPDP have begun to arrive at Governor House in Shillong.

04:05 pm: As a party we met and discussed formation of govt. We all decided we should form a non-Congress govt, and we have decided that NPP government should be formed led by Conrad Sangma as the CM: Donkupar Roy, president of United Democratic Party in Shillong

03:41 pm: Meanwhile, suspense remains over government formation in Meghalaya as Conrad Sangma ducks question on if Agatha Sangma would be the Chief Minister.

03:35 pm: UDP has extended a support letter to us & we have discussed threadbare. It is just a matter of 2 hours, you will come to know everything, who will be the leader. Let it unfold officially in a dignified manner: Himanta Biswa Sarma #Meghalaya

03:30 pm: How can we have upper hand? BJP has 2, upper hand will be NPP 19, followed by next upper hand UDP, they are 6. We are in discussion with PDF also. That is why at 5 pm we are going to meet governor with 29 members, that number will definitely go up: Himanta Biswa Sarma

03:05 pm: Himanta Biswa says we have 29 now and going to stake a claim at 5 pm, more to join soon

03:04 pm:  NDA delegation to meet Governor at 5 PM. Govt headed by NPP to take over: Himanta Biswa

03:00 pm: 

02:50 pm: UDP noncommittal to either BJP or Congress. The party has 6 seats, can thus play a crucial role in formation of the government in the state. 

02:40 pm: BJP's Kiren Rijiju along with Himanta Biswa Sarma and Congress's Mukul Sangma arrived at United Democratic Party headquarters in Shillong.

02:34 pm: 

01:40 pm: Kiren Rijiju also met UDP leader Donkupar Roy

01:27 pm: NPP Chief Conrad Sangma meets senior BJP leader Kiren Rijiju

12:53 pm: 'Newly elected MLA AL Hek is declared the Leader of BJP Legislature Party in Meghalaya Legislative Assembly,' tweets MoS Home Kiren Rijiju. 

12:30 pm: 

12:15 pm: Meanwhile Tripura CM Manik Sarkar submits his resignation to the governor.

11:50 am: NPP meeting begins, Conrad Sangma's party likely to go with BJP's formula of making a non-Congress government. The NPP meeting to decide on the name of next Chief Minister. 

11:49 am: BJP sources say that the government may be announced by the end of the day and oath taking ceremony may take place tomorrow. 

11:48 am: BJP's formula to make government in Meghalaya ready. NPP, UDP, HSPDP and PDF ready to come together. Independent MLA Samuel has also extended support. The total reaches 34. 

11:44 am: Independent MLA Samuel meets Himanta Biswa Sarma, extends support

11:00 am: The BJP's Himanta Biswa Sarma and Alphons Kannanthanam are likely to meet the governor at 1 pm today for a courtesy call.

10:45 am: The reports say that Congress leadership had also paid a visit to Governor Ganga Prasad late last night, staking claim to form the government.

10:30 am: We met the governor and told him that we should be given the first shot at forming a govt. There are clear guidelines in place that say that the single largest party should be called first: Kamal Nath to media. "Associates have assured support in the last one hour. The BJP is out of the fray, they are trying to create mischief," said Kamal Nath.