SHILLONG : Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said the allocation of portfolios to newly inducted Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh would be finalised by Tuesday, while ruling out the possibility of accommodating any additional ministers due to the constitutional limit of 12 Cabinet members.
Paul Lyngdoh, the West Shillong MLA who recently joined the National People’s Party (NPP) along with two former United Democratic Party (UDP) legislators, was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister for the second time on Monday.
Governor C H Vijayashankar administered the oath of office at Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, both Deputy Chief Ministers and other Cabinet colleagues.
Asked whether Paul Lyngdoh would be given charge of the Tourism Department again, Sangma said the decision on portfolio allocation was yet to be finalised.
“I will be taking the decision in a day or so. Allow me to do that. Once that is done, what portfolios will be given will be decided in due course. I have not come to my final conclusions. By tomorrow you should be able to know about the portfolios,” the Chief Minister said.
On whether Monday’s induction marked the end of the Cabinet reshuffle, Sangma said political developments could be unpredictable, although the government expected the present Cabinet to continue until the completion of its term.
“Politics is very fragile in one way. Many things keep happening. We never thought this kind of situation would happen, but it did happen. So I do not write off anything. Yes, in a normal circumstance we don’t expect more to happen right now. We expect this particular government with these particular ministers will complete this term,” he said.
Regarding the possibility of accommodating other leaders who may be seeking Cabinet positions, the Chief Minister said the constitutional ceiling of 12 ministers left no room for further inductions.
He observed that he might have considered other legislators if the constitutional provisions permitted additional Cabinet berths.
“If I had another 5-6 cabinet berths to induct and constitutional provisions allowed me, maybe I would have inducted others also. But there is a limit of 12 numbers, so it is not possible to accommodate anybody else from any political party or in fact anybody from NPP also at this point in time,” Sangma said.