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Marak sworn-in again as Meghalaya CM

In the midst of a fractured verdict in Meghalaya, Salseng C Marak was on Friday sworn-in as chief minister for the second time after completing his full five-year tenure.

The fiftysix-year-old began his career as a teacher after graduation in 1964. A protege of the first Meghalaya chief minister, the late Captain W A Sangma, who initiated him into politics, Marak contested the 1972 Meghalaya assembly election. He won it as a nominee of the then composite All Party Hill Leaders's Conference from the Resubelpara constituency.

As a member of different committees of the assembly, Marak travelled widely throughout the country. He was also a member of the Meghalaya Delimitation Commission.

Marak's first break into the ministerial office came in 1975. He was inducted into the ministry headed by Captain Sangma as a minister of state, a post he held until 1978. In 1976, he joined the Indian National Congress.

In the 1978 assembly election, he contested from Resubelpara on a Congress ticket and won. Subsequently, in 1979, he was inducted into the B H Lyngdoh ministry as cabinet minister. Contesting from the same constituency in the assembly poll, on the same ticket, Marak was returned in 1983.

On the formation of the Sangma ministry soon after, he was again made a cabinet minister, in charge of public health engineering. In 1985, however, he resigned on moral grounds over the Jowai P H E scandal. The following year, 1986, he was re-inducted into the ministry.

In the ministry headed by P A Sangma, Marak was, yet again, a cabinet minister. He held the post till the government was voted out in 1990.

Marak also served as MPCC general secretary from 1979 to 1988. From 1992 to 1993 he was the president of the MPCC. In 1992, he was also the chairman of State Planning Board.

Following his victory in 1993 to the Meghalaya assembly, which was his fifth consecutive win from the constituency, Marak became the popular choice to head the government as chief minister. This time, he faced a three-corner contest and won.

UNI

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