Swearing-in turns into saffron show

SHILLONG: It was sort of a saffron show during the swearing in ceremony of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and his council of ministers on Tuesday.
Out of the two BJP MLAs, AL Hek was sworn in as the Cabinet minister. The flags of BJP were visible in parts of the city and women who were standing with the party flags welcomed the guests at Raj Bhavan.
In between, a few NPP flags were put up but there were no flags of other regional parties. There was saffron colour as background to the stage where the swearing in ceremony took place. Even the new ministers, except Hamlet Dohling and Samlin Malngniang, adopted the gesture of bowing before the audience with folded hands.
In addition, the presence of BJP national president Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other chief ministers of BJP ruled Northeastern states was an added attraction.
A newly elected legislator from the Congress wondered as to whether the government was led by NPP or the BJP.