Shillong: From being a campaign manager for his late father at the age of 18 to leading the National People's Party, Conrad Kongkal Sangma has risen to become the chief minister of Meghalaya at the age of 40.
The youngest son of homemaker Soradini K. Sangma and former Lok Sabha Speaker late Purno Agitok Sangma, Conrad, who hailsfrom the Garo tribe, succeeded two-time chief minister Mukul Sangma.
Born on January 27, 1978 at Tura in West Garo Hills district, Conrad has been one of the successful politicians, despite ups and downs in his career, and has a strong political background.
His father, who never lost either the Assembly or Lok Sabha elections, was also the chief minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990 and Lok Sabha MP from Tura parliamentary seat till his death on March 4, 2016.
Thereafter, Conrad was elected national president of the NPP following his father's death in March 2016 and in May that year, he successfully contested the byelection to the Lok Sabha from Tura and won by a record margin of 1.92 lakh votes.
Conrad, who is currently the Lok Sabha member from Tura, must be elected as member of the 10th Meghalaya Assembly within six months to continue as chief minister.
Brought up in Delhi when his father was a Member of Parliament, Conrad was educated at St Columba's School there.
He received a bachelor's degree in business administration in entrepreneurial management from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, before completing his MBA in finance from Imperial College, London.
After completing his studies, Conrad started his political career in the late 1990s, as the campaign manager for his father. He contested his first election in 2004 and lost by 182 votes.
In 2008, Conrad got elected for the first time from Selsella constituency to the eighth Meghalaya Assembly, along with his brother James K. Sangma, both as NCP members.
Conrad became the youngest finance minister of the then Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) from 2008 to 2009 and presented his first annual budget for Meghalaya within 10 days of taking over as finance minister.
He also held several portfolios like power, tourism, general administration department and information technology.
After the MPA government collapsed, Conrad became the leader of Opposition from 2009 to 2013.
His elder brother James and younger sister Agatha, are NPP members of this Assembly from the NPP.
James, the three-time MLA, is also one of the 12 ministers in the NPP-led coalition government.
Conrad's elder sister Christy, however, remained apolitical.
Conrad married Mehtab Chandee A. Sangma, a doctor, on May 29, 2009, and the couple have two daughters.
Apart from politics, Conrad has been associated with social work, as president of the P.A. Sangma Foundation, which functions for the betterment in sectors of education and environment, and also runs four colleges in the state. He is also president of the Meghalaya Cricket Association and sports academy.
