Meghalaya: NPP Rubbishes Reports of Paul Lyngdoh Joining Party for 2028 Polls

The National People’s Party (NPP) has categorically denied speculation that senior United Democratic Party (UDP) leader and former Cabinet Minister Paul Lyngdoh is planning to switch sides and contest the 2028 Meghalaya Assembly elections on an NPP ticket.

Speaking to The Shillong Times on Sunday, NPP state working president Hamletson Dohling dismissed the reports as “pure imagination” and “completely baseless”.  

“There is no truth in it whatsoever. The party has no knowledge of any such move from Paul Lyngdoh, nor have there been any formal or informal discussions,” Dohling said, adding that talk of ticket distribution or political realignments is premature with elections still more than two years away.

The rumours gained currency after UDP insiders revealed that Lyngdoh continues to feel deeply disappointed over his abrupt removal from the Cabinet in the September 2025 reshuffle. Sources within the UDP claimed the decision was taken at the insistence of the party high command rather than on performance grounds, leaving the five-time MLA feeling “unceremoniously dropped”.

Lyngdoh had pointedly skipped the swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers on 16 September and later described the episode as an “ethical setback”. He recalled that just four days before the reshuffle, UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh had publicly declared during the party’s foundation day celebrations that no cabinet reshuffle was planned.

While some UDP circles had earlier spoken of an alleged pre-agreed rotational arrangement for cabinet berths, Paul Lyngdoh clarified that no written or verbal commitment to that effect existed.

With political circles in Shillong abuzz over the veteran leader’s next move, the NPP’s firm denial has temporarily put the speculation to rest, though many believe the door for future alliances or individual shifts remains open as Meghalaya gears up for the 2028 polls.