Purno Agitok Sangma (1 September 1947 – 4 March 2016) was an Indian politician who served as the

Chief Minister of Meghalaya The Chief Minister of Meghalaya is the chief executive of the Indian state of Meghalaya. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following ...

from 1988 to 1990 and

Speaker of the Lok Sabha The speaker of the Lok Sabha (IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general ...

from 1996 to 1998. He was the candidate for the

2012 Indian presidential election The 14th indirect Presidential election, in order to elect the 13th President, was held in India on 19 July 2012. The last date for filing nominations was 30 June, whereas the votes would be counted on 22 July. The two leading candidates for ...

, supported by

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...

and

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief m ...

, however he lost to Congress politician Shri

Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the Indi ...

. He was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons without ...

, India's second highest civilian award, posthumously in 2017 in the field of Public Affairs and was the first recipient of Padma Vibhushan from

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and J ...

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 The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India. The 6th Lok Sabha, which ran from 23 March 1977 to 22 August 1979 was elected in February and March 1977. 11 sitting members from Rajya Sabha were elected to 6t ...

from Tura constituency in

and represented the same constituency multiple times, from 1977-1988, 1991-2008, 2014-2016. The breaks in 1988 and 2008 were caused by his return to Meghalaya state politics. He became

Speaker of Lok Sabha The speaker of the Lok Sabha (IAST: ) is the presiding officer and the highest official of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament of India. The speaker is elected generally in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha following general ...

in 1996.

Chief Minister of Meghalaya

He was the

from 1988 to 1990.

Formation of Nationalist Congress Party

Sangma was expelled from the Congress on 20 May 1999, along with

Sharad Pawar Sharad Govindrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �əɾəd̪ pəʋaːɾ born 12 December 1940) is an Indian politician. He has served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on four occasions. He has held the posts of Minister of Defence and Mini ...

and Tariq Anwar, for raising the banner of revolt against

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (''née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independen ...

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. After his departure from the Congress Party, he was one of the founders of the

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party i ...

(NCP) along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar in 1999. 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

All India Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cur ...

, forming the

Nationalist Trinamool Congress The All India Trinamool Congress (English: All India Grassroots Congress; AITC), colloquially the Trinamool Congress ( TMC) is an Indian political party which is predominantly active in West Bengal. The party is led by Mamata Banerjee, the cu ...

.along with P. A. Sangma In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, P. A.Sangma and mamta banerji are the founders of Nationalist Trinamool Congress.Sangma was one of two NTC MPs elected. He resigned from his Lok Sabha seat on 10 October 2005 as a member of AITC, and was re-elected as an NCP candidate in February 2006. He resigned from the 14th Lok Sabha for the second time in March 2008 to take part in the 2008 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election. On 5 January 2013, Sangma launched the National People's Party on the national level. The National People's Party managed to win two seats in the

Meghalaya Legislative Assembly The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Meghalaya. Constituted as a directly elected body in 1972, it has 60 members, filled through direct elections held every five years. Like other Indian stat ...

in the

2013 Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election of 2013 was held on 23 February 2013 to elect the Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from each of the 60 Assembly Constituencies (ACs) in the state of Meghalaya in India. Background The 8th ...

. In 2014, Sangma was elected to Lok Sabha from Tura, and died mid-term in 2016.

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. On 22 July 2012,

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. 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 The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murm ...

. Sangma subsequently accused the President-elect of graft.

Personal life

Sangma was born on 1 September 1947 in Chapahati, a village in the erstwhile Garo Hills district of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

(in present-day

West Garo Hills West Garo Hills is an administrative district in Garo Hills of the state of Meghalaya in India. Tura town is the administrative headquarters of the district. The district occupies an area of 3714 km². In 2011 its population was 643,291. As ...

), to Dipchon Ch. Marak and Chimri A. Sangma as one of their seven children. 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 , image = File:Stemma big.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , abbreviation = SDB , formation = , founder = John Bosco , founding_location = Valdocco, Turin ...

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

Giovanni Battista Busolin. Later, he obtained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from St. Anthony's College in

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a ...

before shifting to

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh (pron: ˌdɪbru:ˈgɑ:) is an industrial city in Upper Assam with sprawling tea gardens. It is located 435 kms East from the state capital of Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam i ...

, where he taught in the Don Bosco High School while pursuing

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

international politics International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...

from

Dibrugarh University Dibrugarh University is a collegiate public state university in the Indian state of Assam. It is located at Dibrugarh, Assam, India. It was set up in 1965 under the provisions of the Dibrugarh University Act, 1965 enacted by the Assam Legislat ...

. 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. Agatha was elected from Tura to the

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

elections in 2009, and at 29, was the youngest minister in the UPA ministry.

Death

On the morning of 4 March 2016, Sangma died from

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possi ...

in New Delhi. He was aged 68.

Positions held

* 1974 - Vice President of Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress * 1975 - The General Secretary of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee * 1977 -

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

, Tura constituency (1977 to 1988, first stint) * 1980 - Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee * 1980 - Deputy Minister in charge of Industry * 1982 - Deputy Minister, Ministry of Commerce * 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 -

* 1990 -

Leader of Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

* 1991 - Re-elected,

, Tura constituency (1991-2008, second stint) * 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 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B) is a ministerial level agency of the Government of India responsible for the formulation and administration of rules, regulations and laws in the areas of information, broadcasting, the ...

* 1996 - Re-elected,

, Tura constituency * 1996-98 -

-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,

, Tura constituency, as member of Congress * 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,

, Tura constituency, as member of NCP * 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,

, 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 * 2014 - Elected to Lok Sabha from Tura

References

External links

Biography
- From

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

Speakers' official site
P. A. Sangma: Fourteenth Lok Sabha Members Bioprofile

XII LOK SABHA DEBATES
- Sangma's famous debate against nuclear weapons

, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sangma, P.A. 1947 births 2016 deaths India MPs 1977–1979 India MPs 1980–1984 India MPs 1984–1989 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 Chief Ministers of Meghalaya Dibrugarh University alumni Members of the Cabinet of India Indian political party founders Nationalist Congress Party politicians from Meghalaya People from Tura, Meghalaya Speakers of the Lok Sabha Candidates for President of India Lok Sabha members from Meghalaya India MPs 2014–2019 Chief ministers from Indian National Congress National People's Party (India) politicians State cabinet ministers of Meghalaya Meghalaya MLAs 1988–1993 Meghalaya politicians Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in public affairs Ministers for Information and Broadcasting of India Garo people