Mukul Sangma tenders resignation to Governor after Congress falls short of majority in Meghalaya

Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma tendered his resignation to Governor Ganga Prasad on Sunday, a day after the Congress failed to secure majority in the Assembly elections. The governor accepted the resignation and asked Sangma to be in charge till a new government is formed, a Raj Bhavan official said. “Since the whole election process is over, the chief minister has to submit his resignation and I did. Further course of action will follow as per convention,” the outgoing chief minister said. [caption id=“attachment_4375983” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Mukul Sangma. Team101Reporters[/caption] Sangma won both the seats he contested. He retained his Ampati seat for the fifth time, defeating the BJP candidate by over 8,000 votes. He also won from Songsak, defeating the NPP contestant by over 1,300 votes. Meghalaya threw up a hung Assembly. Faced with anti-incumbency and desertion ahead of the 27 February elections, the Congress failed to secure majority winning 21 seats only in the 60-member House. An ally of the BJP, the National People’s Party (NPP) bagged 19 seats and claimed to form the government with the support of 15 MLAs belonging to other regional parties.