Metbah Lyngdoh quits Meghalaya cabinet as UDP shrinks to one MLA

Meghalaya Power Minister Metbah Lyngdoh, the president of the United Democratic Party (UDP), resigned from the state cabinet on Saturday, weeks after almost his entire legislature party walked out on him.

Lyngdoh announced the move after an emergency meeting at the UDP's party office in Shillong, Meghalaya Monitor reported. Hub News said he had sent his resignation to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma with immediate effect.

Why he stepped down

The UDP had 12 MLAs and was a key partner in the National People's Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government. Over the past six weeks, 11 of them have left. Eight joined the BJP in September, a move the Assembly Speaker recognised as a merger in mid-October, and three more joined the NPP this month, taking the ruling party's strength to 36.

That left Lyngdoh, the Mairang MLA, as the UDP's only member in the 60-seat Assembly.

According to Hub News, Lyngdoh said he took the decision after carefully assessing the political situation and the recent developments within the party. He rejected suggestions that he had been pushed to quit, saying the decision was entirely his own.

What happens next

Lyngdoh said the UDP's Central Executive Committee would discuss the developments and decide the party's next course of action in consultation with its leaders and office-bearers. He did not say whether the UDP would stay in the MDA or withdraw its support for the government.

The Chief Minister's office had not publicly commented on the resignation by Saturday evening, and it was not known who would take over the power department.

Lyngdoh's exit does not threaten the government's majority. With the NPP at 36 and the BJP's strength now in double digits, the alliance has a comfortable cushion in the Assembly.

A long fall for a regional party

The UDP is one of Meghalaya's oldest regional parties and has been part of several coalition governments. Lyngdoh, a former Assembly Speaker, had played down reports of discontent for months before the first group of MLAs left. Some former party colleagues have since publicly blamed his leadership for the collapse.

NEInsider will update this story when the Chief Minister accepts the resignation or the UDP announces its next step.