SHILLONG : Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday denied that any pressure was exerted on United Democratic Party (UDP) president Metbah Lyngdoh to resign as a Cabinet Minister, stating that the decision was entirely his own after 11 MLAs left the party.

Responding to questions on whether Metbah was asked to step down as Power Minister to accommodate newly inducted Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh, Sangma categorically denied the allegation.

“Not at all. To be very frank, sometimes in politics you don’t make decisions that are always pleasing or that you are happy about. Sometimes decisions are very tough. It is not simple for us also to take those decisions. It is not that we want to take those decisions but things happen and in politics and in governance, we need to take tough decisions. In the past a lot of such situations have happened and now also there are tough decisions we had to take. It is not always as we want, but based on situation we need to,” the Chief Minister said.

Explaining the circumstances surrounding Metbah’s resignation, Sangma maintained that the UDP president had independently decided to quit the Cabinet on moral grounds following the departure of 11 party legislators.

He said Metbah had personally met him and conveyed his decision before submitting his resignation letter, which the Chief Minister subsequently accepted.

“It was purely his own decision. There was no pressure from our side as such. He strongly felt that 11 of the MLAs had left and so he felt that on moral ground he should not be part of the cabinet. He met me and shared that information with me and I said that yes, in a situation like that the calculations and numbers are complicated for all of us. When he informed me and gave the letter, I accepted the resignation,” Sangma said.