Overview

• On May 31, seven NCP MLAs formally joined the ruling NDPP, raising its seat count in the 60-member assembly from 25 to 32.
• Speaker Sharingain Longkumer approved the group’s merger under the Tenth Schedule and ordered updates to the assembly’s party affiliation records.
• The defectors, including Namri Nchang and Y Mhonbemo Humtsoe, cited stalled development work and limited political traction as motivations for their switch.
• Ajit Pawar maintains that the anti-defection law does not apply when legislators defect en masse, exempting the group from immediate disqualification.
• The NCP plans to petition Speaker Longkumer to invoke anti-defection provisions and seek the seven MLAs’ disqualification.