P. A. Sangma

P. A. Sangma
Speaker of the Lok Sabha
In office
25 May 1996 – 23 March 1998
Preceded by Shivraj Patil
Succeeded by G. M. C. Balayogi
Chief Minister of Meghalaya
In office
6 February 1988 – 25 March 1990
Preceded by Williamson Sangma
Succeeded by Brington Buhai Lyngdoh
Personal details
Born Purno Agitok Sangma
1 September 1947
Chapahathi, Garo Hills District, Assam, India (now in West Garo Hills District, Meghalaya)
Died 4 March 2016(2016-03-04) (aged 68)
New Delhi
Political party National People's Party (2012—2016)
Other political
affiliations

Independent (2012—2013)
Nationalist Congress Party

(1999—2004; 2005—2012)
All India Trinamool Congress (2004—2005)
Indian National Congress (before 1999)
Alma mater National Institute of Technology Patna
Religion Christianity

Purno Agitok (P. A.) Sangma (1 September 1947 – 4 March 2016) was an Indian politician who served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998 and Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990.

Early life and education

P. A. Sangma was born on 1 September 1947 in village Chapathi in West Garo Hills, Meghalaya to Dipchon Ch. Marak and Smt. Chimri A. Sangma.[1]

He did his graduation in B.A. (Hons.) from St. Anthony's College, Shillong.

Career

In 1973, he became Vice-President of the Pradesh Youth Congress in Meghalaya and became the General Secretary the next year. He served as the General Secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee of Meghalaya from 1975 to 1980.

In 1977, he was elected to the 6th Lok Sabha from Tura in Meghalaya and remained a member of the Lok Sabha until the 14th Lok Sabha, except for the 9th Lok Sabha. From 1980 to 1988, he served the Union Government of India in various capacities. He was the Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990. In 1991, when he was elected to the Lok Sabha again, he again served the Union government until 1996, when he became Speaker of Lok Sabha.

He was expelled from the Congress on 20 May 1999, along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar, for raising the banner of revolt against Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origin issue.[2] He was one of the founders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar in 1999, after their expulsion.[3] In January 2004, P.A. Sangma created a split in the NCP. This happened after Sharad Pawar became close to the NCP's former rival, Sonia Gandhi. After losing a battle for the NCP election symbol, Sangma later merged his faction with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, forming the Nationalist Trinamool Congress. He resigned from his Lok Sabha seat on 10 October 2005 as a member of AITMC/TMC, and was reelected as an NCP candidate in February 2006.

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Sangma was one of two NTC MPs elected. He resigned from the 14th Lok Sabha in March 2008 to take part in the 2008 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election.

Sangma resigned from the NCP on 20 June 2012 after opposition from Sharad Pawar over his presidential candidature. Sangma, whose candidature had been proposed by AIADMK and BJD, and later, supported by BJP as well, contested against Pranab Mukherjee for the post of the President. He lost to Pranab Mukherjee in the results declared on 23 July 2012. He accused Pranab of graft.[4] Former Union Minister and a Congress tribal leader Arvind Netam also came out strongly in favour of the candidature of Sangma for the presidential post.[5][6][7]

On 5 January 2013, Sangma launched the National People's Party[8] on the national level. The National People's Party managed to win two seats in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly in the 2013 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election.

Presidential election

On 22 July 2012, Pranab Mukherjee was declared the victor over P. A. Sangma, crossing the half-way mark of 525,140 votes after votes in half the states had been tallied. While securing the requires quota, Mukherjee secured 558,194 votes to Sangma's 239,966.[9][10] After the final results were published, Mukherjee secured 7,13,424 value of votes, while P. A. Sangma secured 3,17,032 values of votes. The Returning Officer for the Election, and the Secretary General of the Rajya Sabha, Vivek Agnihotri, then declared Mukherjee to be elected as President of India.

  MPs MLAs Total
Pranab Mukherjee[11] 373,116 340,647 713,763
P. A. Sangma[12] 145,848 170,139 315,987

Death

On March 4, 2016, he died suddenly after a heart attack.[13] He was aged 68. He is survived by his wife and children.

Positions held

President, (i) Indian Parliamentary Group, (ii) National Group of Inter-Parliamentary Union; and (iii) India Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

Personal life

Sangma's daughter Agatha Sangma was elected in the same constituency in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, and was also the youngest Minister of State in the former UPA ministry. His son, Conrad Sangma, is the Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.[14]

References

See also

Lok Sabha
Preceded by
K.R. Marak		 Member of Parliament
for Tura
1977–1989 		Succeeded by
Sanford Marak
Preceded by
Sanford Marak		 Member of Parliament
for Tura
1991–2008 		Succeeded by
Agatha Sangma
Preceded by
Agatha Sangma		 Member of Parliament
for Tura
2014 – 2016 		Succeeded by
Conrad Sangma
Political offices
Preceded by
Williamson Sangma		 Chief Minister of Meghalaya
6 February 1988 – 25 March 1990 		Succeeded by
Brington Buhai Lyngdoh
Preceded by
Hari Krishan Lal Bhagat 		Minister of Human Resource Development
1995 – 1996 		Succeeded by
Jaipal Reddy
Preceded by
Shivraj Patil		 Speaker of the Lok Sabha
25 May 1996 – 23 March 1998 		Succeeded by
Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi
 
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