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‘Watched Amitabh Bachchan’s Sholay 300 times’: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma
For someone who began his political journey by collecting bamboos which were then used to set up a stage for his father Purno Agitok Sangma in the late nineties, Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma has come a long way.
It may not figure on the list of must-have foods in Meghalaya but Wak Gominda was, and perhaps still is, Conrad Kongkal Sangma’s favourite dish. But as chief minister, he’s started eating it less frequently than before. “Once people knew that I like Wak Gominda, they made it a point to serve it every time they invited me. So I was eating it almost every other day. Now I give it a go-by and often tell my hosts not to serve it,” he says.
A stew made of pork, pumpkin and wild squash, Wak Gominda is a Garo speciality. Of course, Conrad Sangma has never tried cooking it. “I am a very bad cook and had I even attempted it, I would have messed it up,” he laughs.
Pressures of office have taken away yet another thing: his me-time. He is in office from “ten to ten” and even when he is at home, he is meeting people. Gone are the days when he could put his feet up and enjoy a movie. “I love watching Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone’s movies. I have seen Sholay 300 times.”
Watch: ‘Love watching Deepika Padukone movies’: Conrad Sangma
If budgets were not a constraint, Conrad Sangma would have gone ahead and signed Deepika Padukone as a brand ambassador to promote tourism in Meghalaya. “But she is a celebrity and we belong to a very small state,” he says.
Conrad has also given up playing the guitar: “No time. As politicians, instead of playing music, we face the music all the time” he says. While Conrad keeps a gruelling schedule in his home state, his wife and two daughters live in Delhi.
For someone who began his political journey by collecting bamboos which were then used to set up a stage for his father Purno Agitok Sangma in the late nineties, Conrad has come a long way.
When his father, also the first tribal Lok Sabha Speaker, quit the Congress with Sharad Pawar to form the Nationalist Congress Party, it was left to Conrad to help build the organisation.
By the time he fought his first election in 2004, he had illusions of an impressive win. “I ran a glamorous campaign with lots of posters. I was confident that being Sangma’s son I could never lose. When I did, I was devastated. I realised that being a son of a well known politician may give you a head start but after that are on your own.”
Conrad has learnt that there is no short cut to hard work. “I travel to villages and stay connected with the people. I answer every phone call.” The last is a necessity. Given the slender majority that Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party has in the Legislative Assembly, he can ill afford to ignore his MLAs. In fact, once during a Cabinet meeting, he even got a phone request from a village elder to top up his mobile phone.
Earlier this year, Sangma’s party allied with regional parties to form the government in Meghalaya. He took over as chief minister, just like his father had in 1998. It was an emotional moment: “In my first election, I was like a student in KG; the second time it was like taking a matriculation examination and now I can say I am a graduate.”
So when Conrad Sangma says that he was in a sense “baptised by fire” he’s not entirely wrong.
