Meghalaya Assembly Set to De-notify Ronnie V. Lyngdoh, Lone Cong MLA, as Leader of Opposition

Sangma clarified that if Lyngdoh does not voluntarily step down, he will proceed with the formal process of de-notifying him from the post.

Ronnie V. Lyngdoh, the lone Congress legislator and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, is set to be de-notified from his role soon.

The de-notification process will be necessary if Lyngdoh does not voluntarily step down and resign from the position of LoP.

“Since no formal request has been made by the opposition parties, I will exercise my discretion in making the final decision,” Sangma said, emphasizing that his next steps depend on whether Lyngdoh submits his resignation or not.

Lyngdoh’s status as LoP is being reviewed as 3 of his party MLAs – Charles Marngar, Gabriel Wahlang and Dr. Celestine Lyngdoh defected from the Congress party and joined the ruling NPP.

As per the Assembly rules, a party must have a minimum of 10 per cent of the total seats in the House for its leader to get elected as the LoP. In the 59-member Meghalaya Assembly (Meghalaya Assembly is a 60-member House. Gambegre seat fell vacant after Saleng Sangma won the Lok Sabha Polls from Tura), the party has to have 6 seats but none of the opposition parties – neither Congress nor TMC or the VPP has this number. Congress now has just one legislator, TMC has five and VPP has four.

When asked whether the TMC, with a larger presence in the Assembly, would be offered the role of LoP, Speaker Sangma noted that no formal request had been made by the opposition parties.

The de-notification of Lyngdoh is expected to shift the balance within the opposition, potentially opening the door for the TMC to take a more prominent role in Meghalaya’s political arena.

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