• NET Web Desk

In yet another major blow to the Indian National Congress (INC) Party, the Meghalaya Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh on Thursday referred the merger of 12 INC legislators with the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) party.

Recognizing the same as ‘valid’ under Paragraph IV of the Tenth schedule to the Constitution, the Speaker asserted “I am satisfied that the merger of the 12 members of INC is valid and does not attract disqualification. I do not find any merit in the submissions made in the petitions filed by Ampareen Lyngdoh, and therefore, the same is hereby dismissed.”

While dismissing the Congress Party’s petition seeking disqualification, the Speaker stated, “the merger does not attract disqualification.”

Lyngdoh observed the same, after examining in detail all the twelve petitions filed by the petitioner Dr. Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh of the Congress and the response received from all the twelve TMC legislators.

Its worthy to note that recently, the former Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, along with several Congress legislators in the northeastern state joined the TMC party.

This overnight development transformed TMC into the principal opposition party in the northeastern state of Meghalaya.