Shillong, Sept 23: The ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) will remain intact even after eight MLAs of the United Democratic Party (UDP) switching sides to the BJP as all three parties are part of the MDA.
“The strength of the coalition remains the same because it is very much within the coalition, so it does not disturb the overall functioning of our government,” Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Wednesday.
The NPP national president also pointed out that the party itself enjoys simple majority in the 60-member Assembly.
“Even if that was the case, we have a simple majority in the House and we are quite confident that everything will be as usual,” Sangma told reporters after eight UDP MLAs joined the BJP in New Delhi.
He made it clear that the BJP, which now has 10 MLAs in the House, has not sought any additional berths in the state cabinet that already has two BJP Ministers.
“It is a decision between two political parties. It is the decision of the respective MLAs. It has nothing to do with the NPP as such… I have no comment,” he said.
He maintained that the overall strength of the MDA remains the same since the MLAs have switched sides within the ruling coalition.
Not ruling out concerns between the UDP and the BJP, he said, “There will be some concerns between the two political parties because MLAs from one party have left and joined another. So, they will have to figure that out,” he added.
On a possible cabinet reshuffle, Sangma was categorical: “I have already made it very clear, this will not affect anything.”
Asked if the BJP had sought more cabinet berths, he replied, “No, they have not asked anything.”
On whether the BJP’s growth poses a threat to his leadership in the long run, Sangma said, “No, there is no threat as of now. Every political party has the desire to grow. In a democracy, every party will aspire — we aspire to grow in different states. We have been working in Manipur and other states. It is a natural process.”
“We have to work towards ensuring that we keep our base strong and play our part to increase the number of seats that we have. I was always very clear that we always fight on our own terms, as our own identity and that will continue in the future,” he added.
