Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker Thomas A. Sangma on Friday formally recognised the merger of three United Democratic Party (UDP) MLAs with the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, reducing the regional party’s strength to one member.
The three MLAs are Paul Lyngdoh of West Shillong, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar of Mawkyrwat and Nujorki Sungoh of Mowkaiaw. The Assembly Secretariat issued the order on October 23, directing that the three legislators be allotted seats as NPP members in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
The development follows the Speaker’s October 16 recognition of the merger of eight UDP MLAs with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which reduced the UDP Legislature Party’s strength from 12 to four. With the latest order, the NPP’s strength rises from 33 to 36, while the UDP is left with only its president, Metbah Lyngdoh.
The three MLAs had submitted their merger communication to the Speaker on October 17, stating that they constituted at least two-thirds of the UDP Legislature Party and that the original political party had decided to merge with the NPP. After directing the legislators to verify the communication in person, the Speaker accepted and recognised the merger on being satisfied that the decision was voluntary.
