Senior Congress leader and East Shillong MLA Dr Ampareen Lyngdoh quit the party on Monday, months ahead of the Assembly elections in Meghalaya scheduled to be held in February.
The former secretary of the All India Congress Committee said that recent developments within the party have led her to believe that it has lost its sense of direction.
“Sincere and honest attempts to lead such self-introspection, I believe, have failed,” Lyngdoh wrote in her resignation letter. “The party has lost touch with the people of Meghalaya, and I no longer believe it is the best platform for me to serve them.”
Lyngdoh along with suspended Congress MLA Mohendro Rapsang will be joining the ruling National People’s Party later on Monday, reported The Shillong Times.
The National People’s Party is one of the five parties of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance ruling the state. The alliance also comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party.
However, National People’s Party leader and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has said that his party will not contest the upcoming Assembly elections in any alliance.
In the 2018 Meghalaya Assembly elections, the National People’s Party had contested on its own. However, the Congress had emerged as the largest party by winning 21 seats. The National People’s Party was a close second with 19 seats. The BJP had won only two.
The National People’s Party had entered into an alliance with the BJP and other regional parties to form a government in the state.
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