Shillong: All 33 National People’s Party (NPP) legislators attended a meeting at CM Conrad K Sangma’s residence in Shillong on Tuesday night, amid speculation that some party MLAs might join BJP.NPP, which leads the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA)-2.0, has 33 members in the 60-member Assembly.“MDA-2.0 government is very stable. NPP on its own has 33 MLAs who are absolutely intact, and we also have our coalition partners,” Sangma said.The meeting came amid speculation that some NPP legislators could follow the eight former United Democratic Party (UDP) MLAs who recently joined the BJP. The UDP, which is now represented by four MLAs in the Assembly, remains part of the ruling coalition.Rejecting reports that BJP, an MDA constituent, had sought additional ministerial berths or was trying to split the NPP and form its own govt, Sangma, who is also NPP’s national president, said the reports were “completely and absolutely incorrect”.He also dismissed speculation that NPP would drop BJP from the ruling coalition.“NPP has an absolute majority with 33 MLAs, and if it so desired, it could have dropped its coalition partners during the last Cabinet reshuffle. But as a coalition and even as a political party, we are very clear about the principles on which we have built this coalition. One of those principles is to ensure that we work together,” he said.“The numbers may change here and there. The spirit of working together, and not simply leaving our coalition partners because we have adequate numbers, is not part of the way we deal with politics,” he added.Sangma said the coalition partners had reaffirmed their commitment to MDA.“I have been speaking to the leadership of all the political parties in the coalition, and they have all agreed and recommitted themselves to the coalition,” he said.
