Speaker Recognises Three UDP MLAs as NPP Members, Leaving UDP With One

Overview

• Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Thomas A. Sangma accepted the merger of three United Democratic Party legislators with the National People’s Party on Friday, formally allotting them NPP seats.
• The three defectors — Paul Lyngdoh, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar and Nujorki Sungoh — submitted a letter on October 17 and personally verified their decision before the Speaker on October 19.
• With this order and an earlier October 16 ruling that eight UDP MLAs had merged with the BJP, the UDP’s strength has fallen from 12 to a single MLA while the NPP’s tally rose to 36 in the 60-member House.
• Deputy Chief Minister and NPP state president Prestone Tynsong denied that the three MLAs were promised Cabinet posts and rejected claims that the BJP pressured the NPP to create extra ministerial slots.
• The Speaker applied Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule to validate the mergers, a procedural step that shifts legislative arithmetic and could increase pressure for changes in ministerial allocations and local representation.