SHILLONG, April 19 � A cornered Meghalaya Chief Minister DD Lapang went to the Raj Bhavan this evening and handed over his resignation to Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary.
Lapang was forced to resign after his party colleagues demanded his ouster � many unhappy for not getting a Cabinet berth.
�I have handed over my resignation to the Governor as Mukul Sangma has the majority support,� the outgoing Chief Minister said after emerging from the Raj Bhavan.
On Sunday, Lapang tendered his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi as leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). The resignation was accepted.
The CLP is meeting tonight to formally elect Mukul Sangma as its new leader. Sangma enjoys majority support amongst the 28 Congress legislators. He is likely to be sworn-in as the Chief Minister tomorrow.
Even though Lapang has resigned the issue that led to his downfall still remains: that of Cabinet berths. The immediate task before Sangma would be to allocate the 12 seats amongst 41 aspirants � 28 Congress, 10 United Democratic Party, one Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement party and two Independents � forming the Meghalaya United Alliance coalition government.
For 76 year-old Lapang, this was his fifth stint as the Chief Minister, but has never been able to complete his full five year in office on any occasion. He first became Chief Minister in February 1992 and held the office for a year.
His shortest stint in office was for ten days when the Congress could not garner majority support in the Assembly from March 4 to March 19, 2008.
The longest term he held office as Chief Minister was for a little over three years when he held the post from March 2003 to June 2006.
SHILLONG, April 19 � A cornered Meghalaya Chief Minister DD Lapang went to the Raj Bhavan this evening and handed over his resignation to Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary.
Lapang was forced to resign after his party colleagues demanded his ouster � many unhappy for not getting a Cabinet berth.
�I have handed over my resignation to the Governor as Mukul Sangma has the majority support,� the outgoing Chief Minister said after emerging from the Raj Bhavan.
On Sunday, Lapang tendered his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi as leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP). The resignation was accepted.
The CLP is meeting tonight to formally elect Mukul Sangma as its new leader. Sangma enjoys majority support amongst the 28 Congress legislators. He is likely to be sworn-in as the Chief Minister tomorrow.
Even though Lapang has resigned the issue that led to his downfall still remains: that of Cabinet berths. The immediate task before Sangma would be to allocate the 12 seats amongst 41 aspirants � 28 Congress, 10 United Democratic Party, one Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement party and two Independents � forming the Meghalaya United Alliance coalition government.
For 76 year-old Lapang, this was his fifth stint as the Chief Minister, but has never been able to complete his full five year in office on any occasion. He first became Chief Minister in February 1992 and held the office for a year.
His shortest stint in office was for ten days when the Congress could not garner majority support in the Assembly from March 4 to March 19, 2008.
The longest term he held office as Chief Minister was for a little over three years when he held the post from March 2003 to June 2006.
