Sangma to Move SC against Prez Rule in Meghalaya

Returning to the limelight after a prolonged absence, senior NCP leader and known Sonia Gandhi detractor, PA Sangma on Wednesday said that the MPA would move Supreme Court against a Union Cabinet decision imposing President’s rule in the northeastern state of Meghalaya.

A fuming Sangma said that the decision was not only “unwarranted” or “unprecedented” but also against the provisions of the constitution.

“The decision is not as per the Constitution and the MPA government had won the confidence vote on the floor of the Assembly. There was no manipulation and everything was according to law,” the former Lok Sabha speaker was quoted as saying.

“There is no constitutional crisis in Meghalaya. I don’t know why the government decided to impose President’s rule in Meghalaya,” he questioned.

His reactions came after the Union Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided to impose President’s rule in Meghalaya, barely 24 hours after the NCP-led alliance government in the state survived a trust vote in the state Assembly.

The ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance in the state was a NCP-led government while the Congress was the single largest party in the House.

The Union Cabinet decision came amid a widening rift between the NCP and Congress that are in the middle of an unrelenting stand-off over seat sharintg in Maharashtra.