Sangma's son Conrad elected NPP Supremo

Former Meghalaya finance minister Conrad K. Sangma was on Wednesday elected the new national president of the National People's Party (NPP) following the demise of former national president of the party Purno Agitok Sangma.

Conrad, the youngest son of Sangma, was elected unopposed as the president of the NPP during a extraordinary general body meeting held in New Delhi.

The meeting was chaired by national working president Arvind Netam and attended, among others, by the central executive committee members and members of the general body.

"We, as a party, have elected Conrad as our new president because we have complete faith in his young and dynamic leadership to fulfil the vision and dreams of our departed leader," NPP spokesperson James Sangma told IANS.

James said the party will contest the Assam assembly elections scheduled to be held next month as this was announced by late Sangma.

The former speaker died following a massive heart attack on March 4 at the age of 68. Sangma presided over the 11th Lok Sabha as speaker from 1996 to 1998. He also served as chief minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990.

Sangma was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha from Tura constituency on the NPP ticket, the political outfit he launched in 2013.

The former Lok Sabha speaker had founded NPP after he resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party in 2012 after unsuccessfully contesting the presidential elections last year as a candidate of the Tribal Forum of India.

The NPP has aligned with Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It has two legislators in Meghalaya and four legislators in Rajasthan.