Indian state chief minister resigns from parliament
Xinhua
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(File photo)

Chief minister of northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya Conrad K. Sangma resigned from the country's Parliament on Wednesday.

Sangma, 40, the head of regional National People's Party (NPP), submitted his resignation as a member of Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Tuesday.

"I have submitted my resignation as Member of Parliament to the Speaker," he told the media, soon after quitting his parliamentary seat.

A senior government official said Wednesday that Sangma's resignation from parliament was necessary for him to continue as the chief minister of Meghalaya.

"He can't continue both as a parliamentarian as well as the chief minister of a state, for which one has to be a member of the local assembly," he said.

Sangma won South Tura Constituency by-election last week in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly by defeating his nearest rival from India's main opposition Congress party.

He became the state's chief minister in March this year by dethroning Congress two-time chief minister Mukul Sangma and is heading a six party coalition government in Meghalaya.

"It is my duty to take everyone along," he told the media after the oath-taking ceremony.

The foreign-educated chief minister is the son of a former Indian parliament speaker, who had also served as the state's chief minister earlier.