Conrad Sangma

Conrad Kongkal Sangma (born 27 January 1978) is an Indian politician who is the 12th and current Chief Minister of the State of Meghalaya. He assumed presidency of the National People's Party in 2016 after the death of his father and former Chief Minister Purno Sangma. He was also the Member of Parliament from Tura (2016-2018).

Conrad is a former leader of the opposition in the eighth Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, representing the NPP from Selsella constituency in the West Garo Hills. Previously in 2008, Sangma became the youngest Finance Minister of Meghalaya.

Upon completing his studies, Sangma started his political career in the late 1990s, as the campaign manager for his father, P. A. Sangma for Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). He contested his first election in 2004 losing by 182 votes. He was first elected to the State Assembly along with his brother James, both as NCP members in the 2008 state elections and later held several important portfolios in the state cabinet, including the Finance, Power, Tourism, GAD and IT and presented his first annual budget for Meghalaya within 10 days of debuting as a minister.

From 2009 to 2013 Sangma held the post of Leader of Opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. In March 2016 he was elected national president of the National People's Party (NPP) following his father's death earlier that year. In May that year, contesting from Tura at the by-election to the Lok Sabha, he won by a record margin of 1.92 lakh votes.

Chief Minister of Meghalaya

Sangma's party, the NPP, came second behind Indian National Congress winning 19 seats at the 2018 Meghalaya legislative assembly election. Requiring 30 seats to form a government in the State, the NPP allied with other regional parties taking the number to 34. Subsequently, Sangma staked claim to form government upon meeting the Governor of Meghalaya Ganga Prasad with a letter of support from the 34 members of the legislative assembly, that included 19 from NPP, six from United Democratic Party, four from People's Democratic Front, two each from Hill State People's Democratic Party and Bharatiya Janata Party, and an independent, and was declared the Chief Minister-elect. He was sworn in on 6 March. In August 2018, he contested the by-election for the South Tura seat and polled 13,656 votes. Sangma defeated his nearest Congress rival Charlotte W Momin by a margin of over 8,400 votes.

Conrad Sangma was born on 27 January 1978 in Tura, a town in West Garo Hills district, Meghalaya. His father Purno Sangma was a former Chief Minister of Meghalaya and Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and mother Soradini, a homemaker. His siblings, older brother James and younger sister Agatha, are politicians with the NPP. Another sister Christy, however, has remained non-political. Conrad was brought up in Delhi and was educated at the St. Columba's School there. He received a bachelor's degree in business administration in entrepreneurial management from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, before completing his MBA in finance from Imperial College London.

Sangma married Mehtab Chandee, a doctor by profession, on 29 May 2009, and has two daughters with her: Amara (born c. 2011) and the second (born 2017). Apart from politics, Sangma has been associated with social work, as president of the PA Sangma Foundation, which functions for the betterment in sectors of education and environment, and also runs four colleges in rural Meghalaya. He also currently serves as President of the Meghalaya Cricket Association and Sports Academy.