NEW DELHI: Prominent Congress leader and former Cabinet minister Sayedullah Nongrum on Monday joined the UDP in presence of party chief and Meghalaya speaker Donkupar Roy at a public gathering at Hallidayganj in West Garo Hills.
About 2,000 of his supporters also left the Congress to join the UDP. Amid cheers, Nongrum announced his decision to contest the next election.
Welcoming the veteran minority leader, Roy said for Nongrum it is like homecoming.
Nongrum was associated with the UDP for a long time and joined the Congress in the later part of his career. When the party did not give him ticket he contested as an independent and lost the seat.
Former Assam chief minister and veteran AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was instrumental in making Nongrum come back to the growing regional party. The former Congress leader is associated with several religious and educational institutions in Meghalaya and other parts of the North East.