Shillong, Oct 19: Meghalaya’s political landscape is set for another major shift, with three of the four remaining United Democratic Party (UDP) legislators Paul Lyngdoh, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar and Nujorki Sungoh preparing to join the ruling National People’s Party (NPP).
The three MLAs are scheduled to meet Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker Thomas A. Sangma this afternoon to submit the merger documents.
Their move would further strengthen Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s NPP, taking its strength in the 60-member Assembly to 37, while reducing the UDP to a single legislator.
UDP president and Mairang MLA Metbah Lyngdoh, who also holds the Power portfolio in the state cabinet, will be the party’s sole remaining representative in the Assembly following the proposed merger.
The development comes weeks after eight UDP legislators merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on September 23. Speaker Thomas A. Sangma accepted the merger on October 16 after rejecting a disqualification petition filed by Metbah Lyngdoh on procedural grounds.
With three more legislators preparing to leave, the UDP’s legislative presence will have been virtually wiped out after the departure of 11 of its 12 original MLAs in two successive rounds of realignment.
The proposed move also raises questions about the future of the UDP, a regional party that has played a significant role in Meghalaya’s coalition politics and remained a key ally in the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government.The three MLAs’ formal meeting with the Speaker is expected to clarify the status of the proposed merger and its implications for the Assembly’s composition.
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