<div>P A Sangma, the first Lok Sabha Speaker from the North East, had a roller coaster ride in politics opposing Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin and later tied up with her in the UPA only to become BJP's Presidential candidate against Pranab Mukherjee.<br /><br />For long a staunch Congressman, he became a minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government and later was appointed Labour Minister in the Narasimha Rao ministry.<br /><br />Backed by all parties, he rose to become the Lok Sabha Speaker in 1996 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister in the shortlived BJP government.<br /><br />A nine-time member of Lok Sabha, 68-year-old Sangma passed away in Delhi today following a heart attack.<br /><br />He was expelled from the Congress on May 20, 1999 along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar for raising the banner of revolt against Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origin.<br /><br />He went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with Pawar and Anwar. A multi-faceted personality, Sangma in 2004 split the NCP and merged his faction with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, forming the Nationalist Trinamool Congress.<br /><br />On June 20, 2012, Sangma resigned from the UPA constituent after Pawar opposed his Presidential candidature polls. A day later BJP declared Sangma as its official candidate for the Presidential polL which he lost to Mukherjee.<br /><br />As Speaker of the 11th Lok Sabha, Sangma was known to disarm agitated members with his spontaneous wit, affable disposition and a sense of impartiality.<br /><br />From a humble beginning in a small tribal village in Meghalaya, Sangma became a Lok Sabha member at the age of 30 from Tura constituency on a Congress ticket at a time when the nation was witnessing a major political unpheaval with the Congress losing power for the first time since Independence.<br /><br />In less than two years, the Janata Party went out of office and the Charan Singh government lasted but a few months.<br /><br />In the mid-term Lok Sabha elections in 1980, the Indira Gandhi-led Congress returned to power at the Centre and Sangma was re-elected from the same constituency.</div>
<div>P A Sangma, the first Lok Sabha Speaker from the North East, had a roller coaster ride in politics opposing Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin and later tied up with her in the UPA only to become BJP's Presidential candidate against Pranab Mukherjee.<br /><br />For long a staunch Congressman, he became a minister in the Rajiv Gandhi government and later was appointed Labour Minister in the Narasimha Rao ministry.<br /><br />Backed by all parties, he rose to become the Lok Sabha Speaker in 1996 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister in the shortlived BJP government.<br /><br />A nine-time member of Lok Sabha, 68-year-old Sangma passed away in Delhi today following a heart attack.<br /><br />He was expelled from the Congress on May 20, 1999 along with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar for raising the banner of revolt against Sonia Gandhi over her foreign origin.<br /><br />He went on to form the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with Pawar and Anwar. A multi-faceted personality, Sangma in 2004 split the NCP and merged his faction with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, forming the Nationalist Trinamool Congress.<br /><br />On June 20, 2012, Sangma resigned from the UPA constituent after Pawar opposed his Presidential candidature polls. A day later BJP declared Sangma as its official candidate for the Presidential polL which he lost to Mukherjee.<br /><br />As Speaker of the 11th Lok Sabha, Sangma was known to disarm agitated members with his spontaneous wit, affable disposition and a sense of impartiality.<br /><br />From a humble beginning in a small tribal village in Meghalaya, Sangma became a Lok Sabha member at the age of 30 from Tura constituency on a Congress ticket at a time when the nation was witnessing a major political unpheaval with the Congress losing power for the first time since Independence.<br /><br />In less than two years, the Janata Party went out of office and the Charan Singh government lasted but a few months.<br /><br />In the mid-term Lok Sabha elections in 1980, the Indira Gandhi-led Congress returned to power at the Centre and Sangma was re-elected from the same constituency.</div>