Former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma dies

Former PM Manmohan Singh pays his last respects to the mortal remains of former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma in New Delhi on Friday. (Photo: Bunny Smith)

P.A. Sangma, the first Lok Sabha Speaker from the Northeast and one of the tallest political leaders to have emerged from the region in recent times, died of a heart attack on Friday morning in the national capital. He was 68. The news of his death was broken by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan as soon as the Lok Sabha assembled for the day. She made an obituary reference to him and adjourned the house for the day as a mark of respect.

Later, setting aside protocol, the Rajya Sabha also adjourned after lunch for members to pay homage to Sangma, whose body will be taken to his home in Meghalaya.

The Meghalaya government declared seven-day state mourning as a mark of respect to its former chief minister.

Sangma leaves behind wife Sorodini, two sons — Conrad, a former finance minister in Meghalaya, James, a sitting MLA — and daughter Agatha, who was the youngest minister in Manmohan Singh’s ministry when she was inducted in 2009.

Born on September 1, 1947 in Chapahati village in the picturesque West Garo Hills district in Meghalaya, Purno Agitok Sangma was a lecturer, a lawyer and a journalist before he joined politics as a Congress worker.

President Pranab Mukherjee sent a condolence message to Sangma’s wife. While expressing grief over Sangma’s passing away, Ms Mahajan said he knew how to run the House with a smile and “I learnt this from him”.

“A man of masses, Sangma strove relentlessly for the amelioration of the marginalised sections,” the Speaker said.

Condoling the death of Sangma, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “a self-made leader whose contribution towards the development of the Northeast is monumental”.

Sangma’s tenure as Lok Sabha Speaker “is unforgettable. His down-to-earth personality and affable nature endeared him to many”, he said, adding: “Sangmaji was deeply influenced by Netaji Bose.”