Coming down heavily on opposition Congress, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma on Friday termed the boycotting of Governor Tathagata Roy’s maiden address in the State Assembly as an ‘insult to the chair’.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) had earlier in the day boycotted the Governor’s customary speech on the first day of the Budget Session in protest against the Governor’s recent tweet calling to boycott ‘everything Kashmiri’ in the aftermath of the February 14 Pulwama terror attack.
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According to reports, Conrad was of the view that one might have differences of opinion with the Governor in whatever personal points or tweets that he may have done, but when it comes to Governor’s speech in the Assembly, it is a matter of respect to the chair.
Conrad went on to state that the tweet was a personal opinion of Tathagata Roy, while a Governor’s ceremonial address is a custom of the Legislative Assembly , adding that the Congress legislators have not done the right thing.
Moreover, Conrad stressed on the fact that the tweet was from Tathagata Roy’s personal twitter account and not from the Governor’s official handle.
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On February 19, five days after the terror attack in Jammu & Kashmir, Governor Roy had tweeted:
‘Don’t visit Kashmir, don’t go to Amarnath for the next two years. Don’t buy articles from Kashmir emporia or Kashmiri tradesman who come every winter. Boycott everything Kashmiri.’
Roy had said, this appeal was made by a retired colonel of the Army and he was ‘inclined to agree with it’.
On the other hand, leader of Opposition and former chief minister Mukul Sangma said that it does not augur well when a person holding a constitutional post engages in this kind of message which is capable of creating a rift among the citizens.
The Congress legislators also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not sacking Roy for his ‘anti-national’ message.