SHILLONG: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on Tuesday denied reports of tussle between him and KHADC Chief Executive Member P.N. Syiem over the issue of dual post bill and left it to the wisdom of the latter to take a call on the matter.
Addressing media persons here on Tuesday, the chief minister said ‘there is no tussle as such’ and the government has only responded to its legislative responsibility in view of the observations of former governors where they referred to various provisions of the Constitution like Article 190, 191 and 192 which talk about dual posts.
“The government then took conscious decision to respond to its legislative responsibly of coming out with the dual post Act,” he said.
“Whoever is holding dual posts, it is for them to decide and we leave the matter to their own judgment,” he added.
Reacting to a query on the KHADC bypassing the State government by recommending the name of the nominated MDC directly to the Governor, the chief minister said the government will examine the various developments from the legal and constitutional perspective and take a call thereafter.
When asked about the meeting between D.D. Lapang and other Congress leaders with the AICC, he said, “The Congress has its own internal mechanisms to deal with such situations.”
It is to be recalled that despite the Disqualification (Members of the Legislative Assembly of Meghalaya) Amendment Bill, 2015, taking effect from October 1, the KHADC CEM is the lone legislator in the State who continues to hold dual posts making the Act almost ‘defunct’.
Earlier, seven legislators had quit as MDCs fearing disqualification in wake of the dual post Act taking effect from October 1.
