SHILLONG: Believe it or not, it was three songs that resulted in the State getting its own IIM.
The singer was none other than Chief Minister Mukul Sangma, whose singing skills are quite well known in this part of the world.
Addressing the gathering during a programme at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Shillong on Saturday, the chief minister recalled that there was an ongoing tussle between Meghalaya and Assam for the IIM and vociferous lobbying was going on for the premier institute.
Around that time, the State Congress leaders had planned a surprise wedding anniversary party at Hotel Tripura Castle for the then Union Minister for Human Resources Development (L) Arjun Singh who was on a visit to the State with his wife.
During the celebrations, some State Congress leader informed the couple that Mukul Sangma, who was at that time the Deputy Chief Minister in charge of Education, was a good singer.
On hearing this, the Union minister’s wife invited Mukul Sangma to sing a song to which he obliged.
After the completion of the first song, she asked him to sing another song and when Mukul Sangma had just finished his second song, she placed a request for a third song. This time Mukul Sangma sang one of the most famous songs of the evergreen maestro (L) Jagjit Singh. The song was – Hoto Se Chulo Tum.
“I sang the songs and we got the IIM,” Mukul Sangma said as the gathering broke into a huge laughter.
The chief minister went on to say that he has some networking skills that prove to be handy in times of need.
It is to be noted that the decision of setting up an IIM in the North East was unanimously taken by the then Union HRD Minister along with the chief ministers of the Northeastern states at a review meeting held in Shillong in June 2004.
Shillong was drafted as the permanent location for the institute after consultations between the Union Ministry of DoNER and the chief ministers of the region.
