Shillong, Oct 31: In a dramatic fall for Meghalaya’s oldest regional party, United Democratic Party president and Power Minister Metbah Lyngdoh on Saturday resigned from the Conrad Sangma cabinet, after becoming the lone UDP MLA in the 60-member House.
Lyngdoh, the Mairang MLA, announced the decision after an emergency meeting at the UDP office in Shillong and said he has sent his resignation to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma with immediate effect.
Addressing media, he said, “Due to current political scenario arising in the state especially in the party where 11 MLAs have left me as a lone MLA and the party, after very thorough and careful consideration I have taken decision that I will not be able to continue as Cabinet Minister in MDA Government.”
Lyngdoh was holding Power, Water Resources, Taxation and Textiles since September last year.
The resignation comes weeks after almost his entire legislature party walked out on him. The UDP had 12 MLAs and was a key partner in the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance. Over the past six weeks, 11 of them have left. Eight joined the BJP in September, a move recognised as a merger in mid-October, and three more joined the NPP this month, taking the ruling NPP’s strength to 36. That left Lyngdoh as the only UDP member in the Assembly.
Lyngdoh rejected suggestions that he had been pushed to quit, saying the decision was entirely his own and was taken after carefully assessing the political situation.
On whether UDP will continue to support the MDA government, he said the first decision was to quit cabinet. “For now I have resigned as a minister of the cabinet. In the second phase we will take it after discussion within the party,” he said.
He said the party’s Central Executive Committee would discuss the developments and decide next course of action in consultation with leaders and office-bearers. The CEC is likely to meet on November 3.
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.
