Meghalya: Two of 5 Congress MLAs join ruling NPP

SHILLONG:  Two of the five Congress MLAs in Meghalaya joined the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) on Monday, six days after the four MLAs of different political parties joined the BJP.

Congress legislators — Ampareen Lyngdoh and Mohendro Rapsang — resigned from the Assembly on Monday and then in the evening, joined the NPP at a ceremony, where Chief Minister and NPP President Conrad K. Sangma, Rajya Sabha MP and NPP state President W.R. Kharlukhi and other senior leaders were present.

With Lyngdoh and Rapsang quitting, the Congress now has three MLAs in the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly.

The Congress earlier suspended all the five party MLAs for their hobnobbing with the NPP leadership, specially the Chief Minister. However, in the Assembly records, they are still Congress members.

In the 2018 Assembly election, the Congress won 21 seats.

Meghalaya: Cong MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh resigns from Party

In November last year, former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma (2010-2018), along with 11 Congress MLAs, quit the Congress and joined the Trinamool Congress making the West Bengal-based party the main opposition party in Meghalaya.

On December 14, sitting independent MLA Samuel Sangma and three just-resigned legislators — Benedict Marak and Ferlin C.A. Sangma of the NPP and H.M. Shangpliang of the Trinamool joined the BJP in New Delhi in presence of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and BJP spokesman Sambit Patra.

Meghalaya, along with Nagaland and Tripura, are slated to go for polls in February.