Shillong, Oct 20: If Paul Lyngdoh is to be believed, he left UDP because he was denied mutual respect.
The statement, made after submitting his merger letter to Speaker Thomas A. Sangma to join NPP, sums up the internal decay of Meghalaya’s oldest regional party.
Lyngdoh, along with Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar and Nujorki Sungoh, joined NPP, reducing UDP from 12 MLAs in 2023 to just one — its president Metbah Lyngdoh.
The trigger, according to Paul, was contradictory leadership. After the Lok Sabha poll defeat, the CEC decided to strengthen the Shillong City unit where he was president. A day after the foundation day on September 11, 2025, the leadership wrote to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma seeking removal of its own ministers, Paul and Kyrmen Shylla, from the Cabinet.
Paul also questioned the organisational legitimacy, pointing out Metbah’s term expired in 2022 and Titosstarwell Chyne is only acting general secretary after Jemino Mawthoh resigned.
The decline was public much earlier. During this year’s Budget session, Paul asked questions to his own party president Metbah on the floor of the House, exposing the rift.
Questions are now being raised whether Metbah was a weak leader who failed to take pre-emptive steps — first when eight MLAs left for BJP, and later when three more moved to NPP. No dialogue or disciplinary action was initiated.
On Tuesday morning, rumours of a UDP meeting at the party office sent reporters on a wild goose chase. No meeting was held and Metbah remained unavailable.
What remains for UDP, now a one-man party in the Assembly, is an open question.
