D D Lapang stakes claim to form govt in Meghalaya

Shillong, Mar 10 (UNI) Former Meghalaya chief minister D D Lapang today staked claim to form a government in the state after incumbent J D Rymbai put in his papers following a directive from the AICC.

Earlier, Mr Rymbai had said his decision to put in his papers was taken after thorough deliberation with 14 of his 'loyal' Congress MLAs who unanimously asked him to quit.

On March 6, Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a closed-door meeting with Mr Rymbai in Delhi in presence of AICC in-charge (North East) Oscar Fernandes and ordered him to quit and hand over the reins to Mr Lapang.

However, Mr Rymbai initially defied the party diktat and said he would quit only after consulting ''loyal Congress MLAs'' and his coalition partners.

Incidentally, Mr Rymbai had taken over the mantle from Mr Lapang on June 15 last year after 17 Congress legislators accused the latter of indulging in ''manipulative politics''.

UNI