Five Meghalaya legislators to resign, join BJP ahead of 2018 assembly polls

Four more legislators, including Alexander Hek of the Congress, will resign from the Meghalaya assembly on Tuesday to join the BJP ahead of the 2018 state elections, a party official said on Monday.

They include Nationalist Congress Party legislator Sanbor Shullai and two Independents -- Justine Dkhar and Robinus Syngkon.

"We will be resigning as members of the Meghalaya assembly on Tuesday and thereafter join the BJP at a public meeting in Golf Links," Hek told IANS.

The meeting will be attended by Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons, who is also the party's Meghalaya election in-charge, Assam minister and North East Democratic Alliance convener Himanta Biswa Sarma, and others.

BJP state President Shibun Lyngdoh said all the four legislators decided to join the BJP after observing ing the overall performance of the BJP-led NDA government at the national level.

"Who doesn't want to be part of the growing and happy family? And there are more surprises in the days to come when more legislators will be joining us," Lyngdoh told IANS.

Hek is a former BJP-turned Congress legislator, who was a Health and Family Welfare minister in the Mukul Sangma cabinet before being sacked last year. He had contested and won on a BJP ticket in 1998, 2003 and 2008 polls and joined the Congress in July 2009. He contested the 2013 assembly elections on a Congress ticket and retained the Pynthorumkhrah seat.

Former Deputy Speaker Sanbor Shullai had been sacked as the NCP's Meghalaya President.

Syngkon, who had been a parliamentary secretary, had withdrawn his support to the Sangma-led Congress government.

The latest political development in Meghalaya comes at a time when nine sitting legislators, which include six from the ruling Congress, have resigned from the state Assembly to contest the polls on the ticket of National People's Party (NPP), which is a part of the NDA.

Former Congress legislator PN Syiem, who is also the chief executive of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, resigned from the Assembly and joined the newly-floated People's Democratic Front.

The other five former Congress legislators -- Rowell Lyngdoh, Prestone Tynsong, Coming One Ymbon, Sniawbhalang Dhar and Ngaitlang Dhar -- along with former United Democratic Party legislator Remington Pyngrope and Independents Hopeful Bamon and Stephanson Mukhim, will formally join NPP on January 4 at a public meeting.