Shillong, Aug 29 : The Trinamool Congress on Thursday was recognised as an Opposition party in Meghalaya Assembly while party leader and former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma was appointed as the Leader of Opposition (LoP).

Meghalaya Assembly Commissioner and Secretary Andrew Simons in a notification on Thursday said that Mukul Sangma, a Member of the Meghalaya Assembly, has been recognised by the Speaker as the LoP in the Assembly.

In a separate notification, Simons said that the Speaker has recognised Ronnie V. Lyngdoh as the 'Opposition Chief Whip' in the Meghalaya Assembly.

The Trinamool Congress, headed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for the first time, out of the eight northeastern states, has been recognised as an opposition party in Meghalaya Assembly.

The Trinamool Congress, which has five MLAs in the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly earlier urged Assembly Speaker Thomas A. Sangma to give the LoP post to the party as it is claiming the support of the lone Congress legislator in the house.

Speaker Sangma said former Chief minister and Trinamool leader Mukul M. Sangma (2010-2018) formally submitted (application) to him for the LoP post.

"Mukul Sangma, demanding the LoP post, claimed that the Trinamool has the support of lone Congress MLA Ronnie V. Lyngdoh," the Speaker had said.

In the 2023 Assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress had secured five seats each.

In a major setback for the Congress, of the five MLAs of the grand old party, three recently joined the ruling National People's Party (NPP) headed by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, while another legislator, Saleng A. Sangma was elected to the recent Lok Sabha election from the Tura Parliamentary constituency, reducing the number of party member in the Assembly to just one.

The Speaker, quoting the rules, said that to get the LoP post the members' strength has to be 10 per cent of the 60-member assembly.

The TMC with the support of the Congress MLA has fulfilled the minimum 10 per cent criteria for the LoP post, he had pointed out.

Trinamool also requested the Speaker that the post of opposition chief whip be given to the lone Congress MLA Ronnie V. Lyngdoh.

On August 19, three Congress MLAs, Celestine Lyngdoh, Charles Marngar, and Gabriel Wahlang, joined the NPP in the presence of the Meghalaya Chief Minister.

Meghalaya Congress President Vincent Pala accused the NPP of being 'involved in a cash transaction' for taking away three Congress MLAs to the ruling party's fold.

/IANS