Guwahati: The Congress party’s presence in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly has come to an end with the resignation of its last remaining MLA, Ronnie V Lyngdoh.
His formal merger with the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) was confirmed on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, by Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma.
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Lyngdoh, who represented the Mylliem constituency, joined the NPP led by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma. The Speaker stated that the merger was found valid under the provisions of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution and confirmed Lyngdoh as an NPP member with immediate effect.
With this development, Meghalaya becomes the third northeastern state—after Nagaland and Sikkim—without a single Congress legislator.
The Congress had initially secured five seats in the 2023 Assembly elections. However, three MLAs—Celestine Lyngdoh, Charles Marngar, and Gabriel Wahlang—defected to the NPP in September 2024.
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Another legislator, Saleng A. Sangma, resigned upon being elected to the Lok Sabha. His vacated Gambegre seat was subsequently won by the NPP’s Mehtab Sangma, the Chief Minister’s wife.
Lyngdoh’s defection increases the NPP’s strength in the 60-member Assembly to 33, boosting the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government’s tally to 51 seats. The BJP remains a junior partner in the coalition.
Explaining his decision, Lyngdoh said he had remained with the Congress out of respect for the party’s mandate but felt compelled to shift to ensure “stability and development” in his constituency.
Congress leaders in the state claimed they had not received Lyngdoh’s resignation officially but condemned the move as part of a broader pattern of political betrayal. The party accused the NPP of engineering the defection through “corruption and loot.”
AICC joint secretary in charge of Meghalaya, Mathew Antony, criticized the NPP government, warning that it was becoming wealthier at the expense of the public’s welfare.
With Lyngdoh’s exit, the Congress now holds 22 MLAs in Assam, five in Manipur, three in Tripura, and one each in Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram.