Watch Meghalaya CM and Opposition Leader Unite for The Beatles

With the constant battles we witness between politicians on the media, it is a rare sight to see them genuinely get along, let alone rock out on stage to a Beatles track. On January 3^rd 2017 however, Meghalaya’s Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and Opposition Leader Dr. Donkupar Roy proved stereotypes can be broken and took the stage at Sangma’s eldest daughter’s wedding.

The duo were joined by the United Democratic Party’s working president Paul Lyngdoh as they belted out legendary British rockers The Beatles’ 1963 hit “All My Loving.” While the video of the trio performing has gone viral across social media, Meghalaya’s natives aren’t as stunned as the rest of the country by the sight.  Lima Yanger, frontman of pop-rock band Duncan Rufus, who is originally from Nagaland, explains how western music is deeply rooted in North-Eastern culture. “Our Kishore Kumar would be John Denver, or the Beatles,” he says.

In fact, seeing North-Eastern politicians onstage is hardly unusual; Lyngdoh is a recording artist and performs regularly with his own band while Sangma had a band in college and sang at the inauguration of the Meghalaya House in Kolkata back in 2015. They aren’t the only ones, however; there are several North-Eastern politicians on the musical roster including former Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and the Maharaja of Tripura Pradyot Manikya Deb Barman who is the working president of the Tripura Pradesh Congress and editor-in-chief of The Northeast Today magazine.

“He’s a full-on rocker,” says Yanger about Barman. “He is the best person to talk to regarding Shillong and music.” Yanger adds that Barman knows various famous artists personally like American thrash metallers Megadeth’s frontman Dave Mustaine and former Skid Row lead singer Sebastian Bach and was responsible for several artists touring the region including popular American rock bands like Hoobastank in 2013 and Mr. Big in 2009.