Speaker Certifies Three UDP MLAs' Merger With NPP, Reducing UDP to One MLA

Overview

• Speaker Thomas A. Sangma formally recognised the merger of Paul Lyngdoh, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar and Nujorki Sungoh with the NPP on Friday, Oct 23, and ordered the Assembly to allot them seats as NPP members.
• An earlier Speaker order dated Oct 16 had accepted the merger of eight UDP MLAs with the BJP, and the two rulings have cut the UDP’s strength in the 60‑member House from 12 to a single legislator, Metbah Lyngdoh.
• Metbah Lyngdoh, now the UDP’s lone MLA and party president, said the party will prioritise rebuilding over long legal battles because anti‑defection litigation can take years to resolve.
• NPP state president and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong denied that the three MLAs were promised Cabinet berths and said there was no pressure from the BJP for extra ministerial slots, while NPP MP James PK Sangma warned that legislative gains do not equal grassroots electoral support.
• The Speaker acted under Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule, which allows recognised mergers when enough members of a legislature party agree to join another party, and the shifts could prompt a cabinet reshuffle or change the ruling bloc’s internal balance in Meghalaya.