It is that time of the year when politics take a backseat in the northeastern hill state of Meghalaya. Leaders across party lines come together in the spirit of Christmas, setting aside year-long differences and reveling in festivities.
This year was no different. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma joined the state's Leader of Opposition and former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh and senior MLA Charles Pyngrope in singing Christmas carols and spreading festive cheer. The leaders were joined by Santa Claus as they grooved to Feliz Navidad.
A video of the open-air event - a pre-Christmas celebration with state ministers and MLAs - showed the crowd dancing and clapping as the state leaders sang.
"Was delighted to join Hon'ble Speaker, Hon'ble Leader of Opposition & Hon'ble MLA in singing the #Christmas carol at the Pre-Christmas Celebration joined by our colleagues. #Meghalaya sends its Christmas blessings to each of you," Conrad Sangma wrote as he shared the video on Twitter.
Conrad Sangma recently surprised everyone with his rendition of Bryan Adams' evergreen hit "Summer of 69" at an event in Arunachal Pradesh's Itanagar. The video had amassed a large chunk of 'likes' and 'retweets' on Twitter.
Mr Sangma is known to have a penchant for music and is often spotted playing his electric guitar. Last year, he had uploaded a video where he effortlessly played Iron Maiden's Wasted Years. The caption read, "After a hectic 3-day Assembly session, unwinding with some Iron Maiden stuff. It's been a long while I haven't played, so I guess a few mistakes..."
Meghalaya was recently hit by a political coup that saw former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma walk out of the Congress with 11 MLAs and join Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. Within days, the Congress, in an unprecedented move, offered issue-based support to the state's BJP-Conrad Sangma alliance. The Trinamool was quick to call out Congress' move, terming it a "great betrayal to the opposition".
