The United Democratic Party is a political party recognised in

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is now led by Metbah Lyngdoh. It was started by E. K. Mawlong. The Flag of the party shall be of three vertical colours with scarlet red colour at the extreme left nearest to the flag post, parrot green colour at the extreme right and white colour at the middle signifying respectively courage, valour and sacrifice (Scarlet Red), sincerity, honesty, integrity (White) and hope, hard work, survival (Green).

History

In 1998, B. B. Lyngdoh was sworn in as

Chief Minister of Meghalaya The Chief Minister of Meghalaya is the chief executive of the Indian state of Meghalaya. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following ...

with the support of his erstwhile rival, the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

. UDP won 20 MLAs in the 60-member house and with 26 MLAs

was senior partner in the Alliance. There was a power-sharing agreement between the UDP and

to share the Chief position for two and a half years each. D. D. Lapang was named Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya. In 2000, E. K. Mawlong succeeded B. B. Lyngdoh as the

. Mawlong in his 18-month tenure was embroiled in a scandal stemming from the construction of Meghalaya House in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

and

Nationalist Congress Party The Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) is one of the nine national parties in India. The party generally supports Indian nationalism and Gandhian secularism. It is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra and is also a significant party in ...

withdrew their support for Mawlong and he was forced to step down from office in December 2001.

Meghalaya Progressive Alliance

In 2008, UDP formed Meghalaya Progressive Alliance along with

Hill State People's Democratic Party The Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) is a regional political party active in the state of Meghalaya, northeast India. Formed in 1968 as a split from the All Party Hill Leaders Conference by Hopingstone Lyngdoh, the HSPDP has had rep ...

Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement is a political party formed in Meghalaya, India. Its former president and leader was Paul Lyngdoh, a former KSU leader. Lyngdoh subsequently split a regional group from the party, calling it Kh ...

and along with two Independents. Despite being the largest party, the

gave up the Chief Minister post to UDP in order to achieve stability in the Government. There are also some reports of a power-sharing agreement between the UDP and NCP to share the Chief Minister position for two and a half years each. Dr.

Donkupar Roy Donkupar Roy (10 November 1954 – 28 July 2019) was an Indian politician, who served as Chief Minister of Meghalaya. He was the head of the United Democratic Party (Meghalaya), United Democratic Party, a political party recognised in Meghalaya ...

was named the

with the support of 31 members in the 60 member Assembly. In May 2009, the United Democratic Party and the Hill State People's Democratic Party had left the Progressive Alliance and government collapsed.

North-East Democratic Alliance

In May 2016, after the

led

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...

formed its first government in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, and formed a new alliance called the

North-East Democratic Alliance The North-East Democratic Alliance or NEDA is a political coalition that was formed on May 24, 2016, by Bharatiya Janata Party. The motive of the new political front was to protect the interest of the people of the region as well as uniting non-Con ...

(NEDA) non-Congress parties from the northeast with

Himanta Biswa Sarma Himanta Biswa Sarma (born 1 February 1969) is an Indian politician serving as the 15th and incumbent Chief Minister of Assam. A former member of the Indian National Congress political party. Sarma joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on 23 August ...

as its

convener The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

. The Chief Ministers of the north eastern states of

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

and

Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked state in the northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the Sagaing Region of Myanmar to the east. Its capital cit ...

too belong to this alliance. In March 2018, The NPP came second behind

by winning 19 seats in the 2018 Meghalaya legislative assembly election.

Conrad Sangma Conrad Kongkal Sangma (born 27 January 1978) is an Indian politician who is the 12th and current Chief Minister of Meghalaya. He assumed presidency of the National People's Party in 2016 after the death of his father who was former Chief Minis ...

staked claim to form government with a letter of support from the 34 MLAs, that included 19 from NPP, 6 from United Democratic Party, 4 from People's Democratic Front, two each from

and

, and an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. Dr.

was elected as Speaker of Meghalaya Legislative Assembly along with Metbah Lyngdoh,

Kyrmen Shylla Kyrmen Shylla (born 22 November 1988) is a politician from United Democratic Party and an MLA of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly from Meghalaya, India. He is the youngest minister sworn in as one of the Cabinet Ministers by the then Governor ...

and Lahkmen Rymbui sworn in as minister in the Conrad Sangma government. In February 2019, United Democratic Party was one of the few parties who left

(NEDA) over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. In 2019, Metbah Lyngdoh was elected president of the party after the death of

and he was also named speaker of the

Meghalaya Legislative Assembly The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Meghalaya. Constituted as a directly elected body in 1972, it has 60 members, filled through direct elections held e ...

.Metbah Lyngdoh elected president of United Democratic Party
/ref>

List of Chief Ministers

* B. B. Lyngdoh ** First term: 10 March 1998 to 8 March 2000 * E. K. Mawlong ** First term: 8 March 2000 to 8 December 2001 * Dr.

** First term: 19 March 2008 to 18 March 2009

References

{{North-East Democratic Alliance 1972 establishments in Meghalaya Political parties established in 1972 Political parties in Meghalaya Populist parties Recognised state political parties in India Regionalist parties in India