SHILLONG, Aug 28: The Trinamool Congress and Congress party have jointly staked claim to appoint former chief minister Mukul Sangma as the new leader of Opposition in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
Confirming this on Wednesday, Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma said that the TMC has claimed the post of Leader of Opposition with support from the lone Congress MLA, Ronnie V Lyngdoh.
“I have received the letter of submission. I am still examining it and I will announce my decision very soon,” the Speaker said while adding that the two parties together have the requisite strength of 6 members which is exactly 10 per cent (or one-tenth) of the total strength of the 60-member House.
“They fulfill this criterion but there are other aspects as well. I am reserving my decision and it will not take much time,” Sangma said.
The Speaker also informed that the TMC has sought the Opposition Leader’s post and suggested the Congress MLA’s name for the post of Opposition Chief Whip.
Ronnie, who resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition on Tuesday, said that both the parties discussed the matter and decided to come together since they don’t want the post of Opposition Leader to remain vacant.
“The Leader of Opposition is also a member of the State Security Commission and if we don’t take the post of LO, there will no representation of the Opposition parties in the SSC and other committees where the Opposition Leader’s presence is needed,” Lyngdoh said.
In the absence of the Leader of Opposition, the Opposition’s strength in the 59-member Meghalaya Legislative Assembly is almost negligible and this is amply visible in the ongoing session of the Assembly.
On Wednesday, the Opposition members did not raise even a single cut motion in the list of supplementary demands for grants.
For quite some time, not even a single member of the Opposition bench, except for lone Congress MLA Ronnie V Lyngdoh, was present in the House during the proceedings.
The strength of Opposition has taken a dent in recent times after three Congress MLAs shifted their allegiance to NPP.
Apart from a handful of occasions, members of the ruling dispensation are participating in most of the debates and discussions.
