Meghalaya Speaker allows merger of 12 Congress MLAs with TMC

Meghalaya Assembly Speaker, Metbah Lyngdoh on Thursday rejected Congress' petitions seeking disqualification of 12 of its MLAs including former CM Mukul Sangma and allowed their merger with Trinamool Congress.

The Speaker issued the order on Thursday based on petitions filed by Congress MLA, M. Ampareen Lyngdoh on November 29 and December 10 seeking disqualification of 12 MLAs under Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

Sangma and 11 others quit Congress on November 24 and subsequently joined TMC expressing unhappiness over the functioning of the Congress and said that the grand old party was no longer an alternative to BJP.

The 12 legislators — Dr Mukul Sangma, Marthon Sangma, Jimmy Sangma, Lazarus Sangma, Miani Shira, H M Shangpliang, George Lyngdoh, Winnerson Sangma, Dikkanchi Shira, Zenith Sangma, Charles Pyngrope and Shitlang Pale — had handed over the letter of merger to the speaker on November 24.

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Based on the petitions filed by Congress, the Speaker issued notices to the MLAs asking them to submit their response to the plea. However, upon receiving the response from the MLAs, the speaker approved their merger with the AITC.

"After examining in detail the 12 petitions filed by MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh and the comments received for all the respondents, I am satisfied that merger of 12 MLAs of Indian National Congress is valid as provided under paragraph 4 of Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, and does not attract disqualification, I do not find any merit in the submission made in the petitions, and therefore, the same is hereby denied," the Speaker said in his order.

The merger of 12 MLAs catapulted TMC into the biggest opposition party in the 60 member Meghalaya Assembly. Congress' tally, on the other hand, was reduced to five only. Congress emerged as the single largest party with 21 seats in the Assembly elections in 2018 but it could not form the government.

National Peoples Party (NPP), led by Conrad K Sangma stitched an alliance with other regional parties, United Democratic Party, People's Democratic Front and BJP and formed the government. NPP is part of the North East Democratic Alliance, a forum of BJP's regional allies in the Northeast.

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