Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma Breaks Down in Dr. Donkupar Roy’s Funeral

A Correspondent

SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday broke down at the State funeral for Assembly Speaker Dr. Donkupar Roy which was held in Sohra.

Speaking at the funeral, Conrad said that although his father late Purno A Sangma died in March 2016, in Dr. Roy’s death he lost his father again. “He was a father figure to each one of us,” the Chief Minister said.

He recalled that as the Speaker of the Assembly, Dr. Roy was balanced in his approach. “As Speaker, he ran the Assembly in best possible manner,” the Chief Minister said.

He also said that as president of the United Democratic Party (UDP), he would never allow his party men to drift away from his ideology of regionalism.

He also recalled that from 2008 to 2009, when Dr. Roy was the Chief Minister of the State, the late leader guided him in every step that he took.

“I saw the values that he had. In tough situations, he asked me to keep the objectives clear.”

UDP leader and a close associate of Dr. Roy, Bindo M Lanong said that he is one of the luminaries, the region has produced apart from JJM Nichols Roy and former Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Prof GG Swell.

Holding on to tears while addressing the gathering, Lanong said that in his death, he would miss him even as he added that when he was suffering before he died, Lanong thought he would scrap through.

“I personally felt that he was a visionary of his own accord and the one dream that he had was to make Sohra a district within this year,” the UDP working president said.

He also said that the late leader was a soft-spoken man who would also help those people who were against him.

Earlier, political leaders across the spectrum were present at the funeral of Dr. Roy.

Among those who paid their last tribute to the late leader were – members of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) Cabinet, Opposition leader Dr. Mukul Sangma, and other legislators, both from the Treasury and the Opposition. Also Chief Secretary PS Thangkhiew and Meghalaya Director General of Police R Chandranathan attended the funeral service.

Also Read: Meghalaya Democratic Alliance to Carry Forward Dr. Roy’s Dreams: Bindo M Lanong