New Delhi: The lone Congress MLA in the 60-member Meghalaya assembly, Ronnie V. Lyngdoh, has left his party to join the ruling National People’s Party (NPP).

With Lyngdoh’s move this July 30, the Congress, which had five MLAs after the 2023 assembly polls, has no presence in the House any more. The party had formed the most number of governments in the north-eastern state since its formation in 1972.

The NPP came to power in the 2018 assembly polls after defeating the Congress which was in power for two consecutive terms. In those elections, the strength of Congress had slipped to five from 21 in the House.

While one among those MLAS had resigned after he went to the Lok Sabha in the 2024 parliamentary polls, three others had moved to NPP in the last few months, leaving Lyngdoh alone in the party in the House. This July 30, Lyngdoh too moved to the ruling party.

With this political development, the tally of MLAs of NPP now stands at 33. Though the party has been heading a coalition government in the state since 2018 which also includes the Bharatiya Janata Party ((BJP), with the Congress MLAs shifting to it, the NPP now has crossed the single majority mark alone in the 60-member House.

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