P. A. Sangma

Purno Agitok 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.[1]

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
4th Chief Minister of Meghalaya
In office 6 February 1988 – 25 March 1990
Preceded by	Williamson Sangma
Succeeded by	Brington Buhai Lyngdoh
Member of the India Parliament for Tura
In office 1977–1984
Preceded by	K. R. Marak
Succeeded by	Sanford Marak
In office 1991–2008
Preceded by	Sanford Marak
Succeeded by	Agatha Sangma
In office 26 May 2014 – 5 March 2016
Preceded by	Agatha Sangma
Succeeded by	Conrad Sangma
Personal details
Born	Purno Agitok Sangma (1947-09-01)1 September 1947 Chapahati, Assam, India (now in Meghalaya, India)
Died	4 March 2016(2016-03-04) (aged 68) New Delhi, India
Political party	National People's Party (2012–2016)
Other political affiliations	Nationalist Congress Party (1999–2004; 2005–2012) All India Trinamool Congress (2004–2005) Indian National Congress (before 1999)
Spouse(s)	Soradini K. (1973–2016)
Children	4; including Conrad, Agatha
Alma mater	National Institute of Technology, Patna

Career

In 1973, Sangma became Vice-President of the Pradesh Youth Congress in Meghalaya and became the General Secretary of the party in 1975. He served in that position from 1975 to 1980.

In 1977, he was elected to the 6th Lok Sabha from Tura in Meghalaya and was re-elected from the same constituency multiple times. He represented the Tura constituency in multiple Lok Sabha sessions - from the sixth Lok Sabha session to the eight Lok Sabha session. He did not contest re-election at the time of the formation of the 9th Lok Sabha [2] but did regain his seat in 1991 at the commencement of the 10th Lok Sabha. He remained a member of the Lok Sabha till 2008. He became Speaker of Lok Sabha in 1996.

Chief Minister of Meghalaya

He was the Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990.[3]

Formation of Nationalist Congress Party

Sangma 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 the fact that she was a foreign-born citizen. Sangma along with Pawar and Anwar wanted a native-born citizen to be projected as the Prime Ministerial candidate.[4] After his departure from the Congress Party, he was one of the founders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar in 1999.[5] In January 2004, P.A. Sangma created a split in the NCP 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 re-elected 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.

On 5 January 2013, Sangma launched the National People's Party[6] 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

Sangma's candidature was proposed by AIADMK and BJD, and later, supported by BJP as well. Sangma resigned from the NCP on 20 June 2012 after opposition from Sharad Pawar over his presidential candidature. 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.[7][8][9]

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 required quota, Mukherjee secured 558,194 votes to Sangma's 239,966.[10][11] 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. Sangma subsequently accused the President-elect of graft.[12]

	MPs	MLAs	Total
Pranab Mukherjee[13]	373,116	340,647	713,763
P. A. Sangma[13]	145,848	170,139	315,987

Personal life

Sangma was born on 1 September 1947 in Chapahati, a village in the erstwhile Garo Hills district of Assam (in present-day West Garo Hills, Meghalaya), to Dipchon Ch. Marak and Chimri A. Sangma as one of their seven children.[14] He lost his father when he was 11 and had to quit studies due to poverty. He was helped to return to school by a Salesian Father Giovanni Battista Busolin. Later, he obtained a bachelor of arts degree from St. Anthony's College in Shillong before shifting to Dibrugarh in Assam, where he taught in the Don Bosco High School while pursuing master of arts in international politics from Dibrugarh University.[15]

Sangma married Soradini K. in 1973. They had two sons and two daughters together. Son Conrad was appointed as National President of Nationalist Youth Congress and daughter Agatha are politicians.[16] Agatha was elected from Tura to the 15th Lok Sabha elections in 2009, and at 29, was the youngest minister in the UPA ministry.[17]

Death

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and cabinet members paying their respects at Sangma's wake

On the morning of 4 March 2016, Sangma died from cardiac arrest in New Delhi.[18] He was aged 68.

He was awarded a posthumous Padma Vibhushan in 2017 becoming the first recipient of Padma Vibhushan from Meghalaya.[19]

Positions held

• 1974 - Vice President of Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress
• 1975 - The General Secretary of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee
• 1977 - Member of Parliament, Tura constituency
• 1980 - Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee
• 1980 - Deputy Minister in charge of Industry
• 1982 - Deputy Minister, Ministry of Commerce
• 1984 - Re-elected, Member of Parliament, Tura constituency
• 1984 - Minister of State holding charge of Commerce and Supply
• 1984 - Minister of State for Home Affairs
• 1986 - Minister of State for Labour with Independent Charge
• 1988 - Member, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly
• 1988 - Chief Minister of Meghalaya
• 1990 - Leader of Opposition, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly
• 1991 - Re-elected, Member of Parliament, Tura constituency
• 1991-93 - Union Minister of State, Coal (Independent Charge)
• 1993-95 - Union Minister of State, Labour (Independent Charge)
• February–September 1995 - Union Minister of State, Labour
• 1995-96 - Union Cabinet Minister of Information and Broadcasting
• 1996 - Re-elected, Member of Parliament, Tura constituency
• 1996-98 - Speaker of Lok Sabha -Chairman, (i) Business Advisory Committee; (ii) Rules Committee; (iii) General Purposes Committee; (iv) Standing Committee of the Conference of Presiding Officers of the Legislative Bodies in India; and (v) Institute of Constitutional and Parliamentary Studies;

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

• 1998 - Re-elected, Member of Parliament, Tura constituency
• 1998 - Member, Committee on External Affairs and its Sub-Committee-I
• 1998 - Vice-President, Indian Institute of Public Administration
• 1998 - Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of External Affairs
• 1999 - Re-elected, Member of Parliament, Tura constituency
• 1999 - Member, Committee on Labour and Welfare
• 2000 - Member, National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution
• 2002 - Member, Committee on External Affairs
• 2003 - Member, Committee on Home Affairs
• 2004 - Re-elected, Member of Parliament, Tura constituency
• 2004 - Member, Committee on External Affairs, Member, Committee on Private Members Bills and Resolutions, Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Home Affairs
• 2006 - Re-elected to Lok Sabha as N.C.P. candidate on 23.2.2006, Tura constituency
• 2008 - Member, Meghalaya Legislative Assembly

See also

• Politics of India
• Nuclear disarmament

References

1. "PA Sangma (1947-2016): The short man from Garo Hills, the tallest North East leader in New Delhi". Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
2. "Tura Constituency". Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
3. "Who is P.A. Sangma?". Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
4. "CWC expels threesome for six years". Rediff.com, 20 May 1999. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
5. "National Congress Party Origins". NCP official website, retrieved 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
6. news.oneindia.in/2013/01/05/sangma-launches-his-party-with-alliance-with-nda-1125781.html
7. "It's time that a tribal becomes President: Netam". 29 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 June 2012.
8. "Sangma withdraws himself from presidential race, seeks consensus for Abdual Kalam". Headlines today. 16 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
9. "I have quit NCP, will contest presidential polls: PA Sangma". 20 June 2012.
10. "Pranab Mukherjee voted India's 13th President". Times of India. 22 July 2012. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
11. "Pranab Mukherjee is 13th President". Deccan Herald. 22 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
12. "BJP supports Sangma after division in NDA". 21 June 2012.
13. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. "Sangma, Shri Purno Agitok Biographical sketch". indiapress.org. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
15. "P A Sangma: From tending cattle for food to minding the Lok Sabha". The Indian Express. 5 March 2016. Archived from the original on 25 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
16. Nayak, C. K. (21 March 2016). "Unopposed Tura By-Poll Would Be Fitting Tribute To My Father". The Shillong Times. Archived from the original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
17. "Agatha Sangma youngest minister in Manmohan ministry". The Times of India. 27 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 November 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
18. "Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma Passes Away at 68". The Quint. 4 March 2016. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
19. "P.A. Sangma awarded Padma Vibhushan, becomes first recipient from Meghalaya". Business Standard India. 25 January 2017. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 11 September 2017.

External links

• Biography - From Lok Sabha Speakers' official site
• P. A. Sangma: Fourteenth Lok Sabha Members Bioprofile
• XII LOK SABHA DEBATES - Sangma's famous debate against nuclear weapons
• Interview with Sangma by Rediff on NCP split up

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