Donkupar Roy ministry

The state assembly election held in March 2008 resulted in no single political party securing a majority. The ruling Indian National Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 25 seats followed by the Nationalist Congress Party with 14 seats and the United Democratic Party with 11 seats. Governor Shivinder Singh Sidhu re-appointed D. D. Lapang as the chief minister despite the Congress not having a majority in the legislature.^[2]

However, on 18 March 2008, ahead of a vote of no-confidence in the legislature, Lapang chose to resign. He was replaced by Donkupar Roy of the United Democratic Party who formed the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance coalition along with the other non-Congress parties and formed the government. He was sworn-in into office the following day.

The Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government consisted of five parties and two independents. The parties included the United Democratic Party, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Hill State People's Democratic Party, the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement, and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Three ministers each from the United Democratic Party and the Nationalist Congress Party, two from the Hill State People's Democratic Party, one each from the Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement and the Bharatiya Janata Party, and two independent legislators were inducted into the council of ministers on 20 March 2008.^[3]

The government faced a vote of no-confidence on March 2009 after two ministers- Paul Lyngdoh and Adviser Pariong resigned from the cabinet and withdrew their support from the government. At the same time, two other independent legislators also withdrew their support from the government. This subsequently led to the government losing its majority in the legislature.^[4] Following the resignation of the chief minister, president's rule was imposed in the state.