Meghalaya Politics: Is BJP Preparing to Challenge Conrad Sangma Before 2028 Polls?
Conrad Sangma, Neiphiu Rio and BJP: Is the Northeast Political Equation Changing? (Image Sangma on X)
By NIRENDRA DEV
A National People’s Youth Front leader has joined the BJP as political realignments reshape Meghalaya and Nagaland. With defections, mergers and shifting alliances, the big question is whether the BJP will eventually challenge its regional partners.
Shillong, October 24, 2026 — Political realignments in Meghalaya and Nagaland are raising questions about the future of regional parties and the BJP’s long-term ambitions in the Northeast ahead of the 2028 Assembly elections.
In the latest development, Kitborlang Giri Jarain, president of the National People’s Youth Front (NPYF) in North Shillong, resigned from the Conrad Sangma-led National People’s Party (NPP) on October 22, 2026, citing personal reasons, and joined the BJP. He was formally inducted in Shillong by Mariahom Kharkrang, the BJP’s state chief spokesperson.
The development comes amid a series of political shifts involving the NPP, BJP and United Democratic Party (UDP), highlighting the fluid nature of Meghalaya’s coalition politics.
Three UDP legislators — Paul Lyngdoh, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar and Nujorki Sungoh — submitted a merger application to Assembly Speaker Thomas A. Sangma, seeking to join the NPP. The UDP expelled the three leaders shortly before they submitted their application.
The UDP, which won 12 seats in the 2023 Assembly elections, would be reduced to one MLA if the merger is formally recognised. The NPP’s strength in the 60-member House would rise to 36, subject to the Speaker’s decision.
The latest developments also revive questions about the BJP’s relationship with Conrad Sangma. Although the two parties have competed fiercely in elections, they continue to share power in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government.
The BJP won only two seats in both the 2018 and 2023 Assembly elections. During the 2023 campaign, it also levelled corruption allegations against the NPP-led government. Despite these political differences, the alliance survived.
With the next Assembly elections expected in 2028, the BJP could seek to expand its independent political base. Whether it attempts to challenge Sangma before the elections, however, remains uncertain.
The Neiphiu Rio parallel
Nagaland offers another example of the changing relationship between the BJP and its regional partners.
The BJP has accommodated Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio’s political leadership, contesting 20 seats while leaving 40 to its regional ally in both the 2018 and 2023 elections. In 2025, Rio’s Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) merged with the Naga People’s Front (NPF), which had only two legislators, and Rio subsequently became the NPF president.
The Rising People’s Party also merged with the NPF in July 2026. Nyamnyei Konyak, formerly the NPP’s Nagaland president, joined the NPF earlier in October. Five NPP MLAs joined the NPF.
Meanwhile, former Nagaland chief minister S.C. Jamir’s meeting with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, during which he reportedly raised concerns about the performance of the Rio-led government, generated political discussion in the state.
The broader question is whether the BJP will continue accommodating powerful regional leaders or eventually seek to replace them.
In both states, political arithmetic is reshaping party identities and alliances. The real test will come in 2028, when voters decide whether the BJP can convert its organisational expansion into electoral power.
For now, the political fable remains familiar: allies may share power, but their ambitions need not remain aligned.
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