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In a major rejig, eight of the 12 ministers in the Meghalaya Cabinet were dropped and eight new members were sworn on Tuesday.
The only sitting ministers to retain their Cabinet berths were Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, his two deputies Prestone Tynsong and Sniawbhalang Dhar, and Marcuise Marak, the minister for Housing, Public Health Engineering, and Soil & Water Conservation. All of them are from Sangma’s National People’s Party, which leads the coalition government in the state, which also includes the BJP and regional parties United Democratic Party and Hill State People’s Democratic Party.
At the swearing-in ceremony of the newly appointed Cabinet Ministers, presided over by Hon’ble Governor Shri C.H. Vijayashankar ji at Raj Bhavan, Shillong.
Heartfelt congratulations to Shri T.D. Shira, Shri Metbah Lyngdoh, Shri Lahkmen Rymbui, Shri Wailadmiki Shylla, Shri… pic.twitter.com/gQusgVuzId
— Conrad K Sangma (@SangmaConrad) September 16, 2025
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The reshuffle, which comes at around the halfway mark of the current ‘Meghalaya Democratic Alliance 2.0’ government’s term, has seen Sangma maintaining the same balance of representation of the different constituent parties in the Cabinet.
After the reshuffle, Sangma said that one of the aims was to accommodate the aspirations of different members of the alliance, which has over 50 MLAs in the 60-member Assembly, as well as to ensure representation from across the different parts of Meghalaya.
“It (the reshuffle) has been done because we have a large number — we are 50-plus. We also have to give importance to regional aspirations and district aspirations. We are trying our best to (maintain a) balance,” the Chief Minister said.
The NPP ministers dropped were Health, Law, Information & Public Relations, and Agriculture Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh; Power, Taxation, and Community & Rural Development Minister Abu Taher Mondal; Education, Border Areas Development, and General Administration Minister Rakkam Sangma; and Home (Civil Defence and Home Guards), Cooperation, Food Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, and Water Resources Minister Coming One Ymbon.
In their place, four new NPP MLAs have been inducted into the Cabinet — Timothy Shira, who was the Deputy Speaker until he resigned from the position last week in line with party instructions; Jowai MLA Wailadmiki Shylla; Dalu MLA Brening Sangma; and Jirang MLA Sosthenes Sohtun.
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BJP leader and Animal Husbandry & Veterinary, Fisheries, Printing & Stationery, and Secretariat Administration Minister Alexander Laloo Hek has made way for his party colleague, South Shillong MLA Sanbor Shullai.
Similarly, two UDP ministers were dropped — Tourism, Arts & Culture, Social Welfare, and Textiles Minister Paul Lyngdoh; and Excise, Revenue & Disaster Management, Home (Passport), and Legal Metrology Minister Kyrmen Shylla. Two new UDP legislators, Mairang MLA Metbah Lyngdoh and Amlarem MLA Lahkmen Rymbui, have been sworn in.
HSPDP leader and Labour, Employment & Youth Development, Sports & Youth Affairs, and Registration & Stamps Minister Shakliar Warjiri is making way for his party colleague, Mawshynrut MLA Methodius Dkhar.
Chief Minister Sangma pointed to the fact that the NPP, which had to form a patchwork alliance after the 2023 election in which it had emerged as the single-largest party but had not received a simple majority, is now in a position to form the government in the state by itself, with its number of seats growing to 33 after a set of MLAs jumped ship, including all four Congress MLAs.
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“I have stuck with my commitment given in 2023 of the number of Cabinet berths that we have given to them (alliance partners). Despite the fact that today, the NPP has a majority on its own — we have 33 MLAs — I was very particular that when we have given a commitment to our coalition partners, we will not break that commitment,” Sangma said.
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