Three Meghalaya UDP MLAs set to join NPP, leaving party with one legislator

• Three of Meghalaya’s four remaining UDP MLAs are expected to join the NPP on Monday, taking its Assembly strength from 33 to 36.

• The move would leave UDP president and minister Metbah Lyngdoh as the party’s sole legislator.

• The development follows the Speaker’s recognition of eight UDP MLAs’ merger with the BJP, which increased its tally to 10.

Three of the United Democratic Party’s four remaining MLAs in Meghalaya are likely to join the National People’s Party on Monday, potentially strengthening Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s party and leaving the UDP with a single legislator.

UDP leader Paul Lyngdoh said the three lawmakers were expected to switch to the NPP. Their entry would raise the ruling party’s strength from 33 to 36 in the 60-member Assembly.

The move would leave UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh, a minister in the Sangma government, as the party’s only MLA. The UDP previously had 12 legislators.

The anticipated switch follows another significant shift involving eight UDP lawmakers, whose merger with the BJP was formally recognised by Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma on 16 October.

Those legislators joined the BJP in New Delhi on 23 September and informed the Assembly of their merger through a letter submitted two days later. Their inclusion increased the BJP’s representation from two seats to 10.

Both the BJP and the UDP are partners in the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government. The latest realignment would further consolidate the NPP’s position as the largest party in the governing coalition.

Meghalaya’s next Assembly election is due in early 2028.

With PTI inputs