Donwa Dethwelson Lapang (born 10 April 1934), popularly known as Dr. D. D. Lapang, is a politician from

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and a former

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

of Meghalaya. He started his life as a road labourer and worked his way up to become Sub-Inspector of schools. His father's name was Donwa War. In 1958, he married Amethyst Lynda Jomes Blah. In 1972 he became MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) from

Nongpoh Nongpoh is the administrative centre of Ri-Bhoi district in the Indian state of Meghalaya in the Republic of India. Nongpoh is located on National Highway 40, fifty-two kilometers from the state capital Shillong and forty-eight kilometers from ...

as an independent candidate. And later in 1992 to February, 1993 he was the state Chief Minister. On 4 March 2003 he was again sworn in as Chief Minister. He resigned from the position on 15 June 2006 due to dissidence in the coalition government. He took office as Chief Minister again in March 2007. His party, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, won a plurality of seats in the March 2008 state legislative election, and Lapang was sworn in as Chief Minister on 10 March 2008, but with the support of only 28 members of the 60 seat legislature, he resigned on 19 March. He became chief minister for a fourth time on 13 May 2009, after the state was under President's Rule for two months, and resigned on 19 April 2010.

References

* Indian National Congress politicians from Meghalaya Lapaang, D. D. Lapaang, D. D. Chief Ministers of Meghalaya Meghalaya MLAs 1972–1978 People from Ri-Bhoi district Chief ministers from Indian National Congress State cabinet ministers of Meghalaya Meghalaya politicians Meghalaya MLAs 2003–2008 Meghalaya MLAs 2008–2013 National People's Party (India) politicians {{Meghalaya-INC-politician-stub