P A Sangma

P A Sangma (1947 – 2016), full name Purno Agitok Sangma, was an Indian politician and the Lok Sabha Speaker. In a significant departure, from the 49-year-old Indian parliamentary experience, the Eleventh Lok Sabha unanimously elected a member from the Opposition, P A Sangma, as the Speaker. He was born in 1947 in a tribal family in a tribal village in Meghalaya. After completing his graduation from St. Anthony's College, he went to Dibrugarh University in Assam for his Masters degree in International Relations. Subsequently, he also obtained a degree in Law. In the course of his career, he became a lecturer, a lawyer and a journalist before he joined politics in the 1970s. He started his political life as a worker of the Congress Party.

In 1974, he became the General Secretary of the Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress, and the General Secretary of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee in 1975 and held that post till 1980. Sangma came to the national political scene in 1977 after he was elected to the Lok Sabha on the Congress ticket. In the mid-term elections of 1980, the Indira Gandhi led Congress Party returned to power at the Centre. Sangma was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the same constituency. He became the Deputy Minister in charge of Industry in November 1980, and after two years, he was shifted to the Ministry of Commerce as Deputy Minister and held that post till December 1984. The same year after general election he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha and became Minister of State of Commerce and Supply. For a short while, he also functioned as the Minister of State for Home Affairs. Sangma took over as the Minister of State for Labour with Independent Charge in October 1986.

He became the Chief Minister of Meghalaya in 1988. He headed a 48-member Coalition Government in a tumultuous period in the State's political history. In 1990, following the resignation of his Government, Sangma became the Leader of the Opposition in the State Legislative Assembly.

He returned to the Lok Sabha in 1991 following the General Elections and was inducted into the Union Cabinet, this time by Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. Sangma was given the Independent Charge of the Ministry of Coal. In February 1992, he was given the additional responsibility of assisting the Prime Minister in the Ministry of Labour. He assumed the Independent Charge of the Ministry of Labour in January 1993. He was elevated to the Cabinet rank (the first tribal to be elevated as such) in the Ministry of Labour in February 1995.

In September 1995, Sangma took over as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting, the post he held till the General Elections to the Eleventh Lok Sabha. Sangma was elected to the Lok Sabha for the fifth time from the Tura constituency in the 1996 General Elections. On 23 May 1996, he was unanimously elected the Speaker of the Eleventh Lok Sabha with universal support cutting across all political parties.

Sangma was expelled from the Congress on 20 May 1999, along with Sharad Pawar, who formed Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). However, Sangma resigned from the NCP on 20 June 2012 and on 5 January 2013, he launched the National People's Party (NPP).

Nearby pages
PAB, Pabiachhara Vidhan Sabha Constituency, Pabitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Pablo Antonino Cuadra, Pablo Antonio Cuadra