By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 26: Contrasting views have emerged from the TMC camp with regard to the recent merger of three Congress MLAs, two of them suspended, with the ruling NPP. While TMC Legislature Party leader Mukul Sangma has questioned the legal validity of the merger, party’s state president Charles Pyngrope is of the opinion that the merger is within the legal parameters.
Pyngrope pointed out that the three MLAs are not suspended from the 60-member House although their former party suspended two of them for six years.
“It is only the Assembly Speaker who can suspend them,” Pyngrope, a former Assembly Speaker, told The Shillong Times here on Monday.
“The merger of the three Congress MLAs satisfies the merger of the two-thirds rule according to the Tenth Schedule of the anti-defection law. I would have considered the merger legal,” he said, adding that the trio’s case cannot be considered poaching.
He said the trio’s case is similar to that of 12 former Congress MLAs who merged with the TMC after fulfilling the conditions laid down in the anti-defection law.
“Suspension from party means they cannot take part in party activities. They can still attend the House. The Speaker is concerned with the strength of a party in the House and has to accept any development that does not defy the rules,” Pyngrope said.
“This is my interpretation. People may have a different take and that is why we have the appellate court or the court of law,” he said.
Earlier, Mukul had questioned the legal validity of the merger of the three Congress MLAs with the NPP since the MPCC had suspended two of them before the merger came into effect.
He had said that since the Congress MLAs (Charles Marngar and Gabriel Wahlang) had been suspended from the party, they could not be a signatory to any decision taken by a regular member (Celestine Lyngdoh) or the party for the merger.
“From the inputs that I have, the two members were suspended by the party and therefore, they should be referred to as suspended Congress MLAs and hence they cannot be signatories to any decision taken by regular members,” Sangma had said.
He had stated that the decision of Congress to suspend them was to pre-empt any move for a split or merger since they can no longer take such a call on behalf of the party or its regular members.
He had wanted to know how the Assembly Speaker interpreted the law or if there was some “manipulation” since Congress could shed light on the same.
“The office of the Assembly Speaker is in the best position to disclose the details but from what we know, two MLAs were suspended before they signed the merger, which renders it null and void,” the former chief minister had said.