Speaker’s ruling totally justified: Pyngrope

SHILLONG, Dec 24: All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Meghalaya president, Charles Pyngrope on Friday described as “totally justified” the Speaker’s rejection of the two sets of disqualification petitions filed by the Congress against the 12 MLAs.
Pyngrope told The Shillong Times that the dozen former Congress MLAs, who had “merged” themselves with the AITC, fulfilled the criteria of the anti-defection law.
The Speaker’s decision vindicates former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and Pyngrope who had said the merger was legal and within the ambit of the Constitution.
Pyngrope said the MLAs were invited by the Speaker and they all had signed the papers in front of the Speaker. The office of the Speaker compared the signatures to check authenticity, he said.
Asked if the Congress can challenge the Speaker’s order in a court, the AITC state president, who himself is a former Speaker, said the party can do so as in a democracy, the doors are always open for redressal of grievances and nobody can stop it.
“We can only say that our merger was legal as we fulfilled the conditions as laid down under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution (anti-defection law),” Pyngrope said. On the Congress’s decision to extend issue-based support to the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance in which BJP is a component, he said the political parties in the state have always supported the government on issues of public interest, be it Inner Line Permit (ILP) or Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
He recalled that the Assembly had unanimously supported the government resolution on ILP and the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.