By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 28: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Saturday said two months of tears laid the foundation for his political comeback less than a decade ago.
Speaking at the 5th Regional Catholic Youth Convention in Kohima, he shared how the crushing loss in the 2013 Assembly election broke him and then built him. “I cried for two months. I couldn’t digest the loss,” he told the young gathering, recalling the emotional aftermath of his defeat.
That painful chapter, he said, became the turning point. “After the two months, I picked up the pieces, I told myself I’m not gonna accept this, and I’m gonna change this. I worked for the next two years day and night, and I won the next election. And that is how life is.”
With unusual candour, the Chief Minister admitted, “I don’t think I would be here if I had not lost that election.”
His words weren’t just a reflection on a political setback; they were a lesson in humility, self-discipline and grit. His rise, he said, came not despite the tears, but because of them.
The audience, comprising young Catholics from across the Northeast, listened closely as Sangma turned his failure into a call to action.
Beyond the personal narrative, the Chief Minister urged the youth to harness their energy for entrepreneurship while anchoring themselves in timeless values.
He called on members of the Indian Catholic Youth Movement to “channel their energies into entrepreneurship while steadfastly upholding values of respect, faith, and humility,” which, he said, are essential in navigating the fast-changing Northeast.