Rebel NCP MLA to join Cong after end of term
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Suspended NCP MLA Adolf Lu Hitler R Marak, who is known for his proximity to the Congress camp, declared that he would stay under the present party’s banner till the next election even as the NCP has warned Marak of attracting disqualification if he shifted his allegiance now.
“I am willing to leave the NCP and join the Congress, but the anti-defection law would not permit me to do so unless I resign as an MLA,” The rebel MLA admitted on Monday in the wake of news reports about his plan to leave the party.
“I will surely join Congress at the end of the term,” Marak asserted while going to the extent of urging all the NCP MLAs and functionaries to leave party and join the ruling party.
He was suspended from the party even when he was the Chief Whip of the Opposition in the Assembly last year following his allegations that NCP supremo PA Sangma had failed to serve the people of Garo Hills despite representing the region for long years both in the State and at the Centre.
While Marak, despite his intentions to join the Congress, is in a helpless position due to the anti-defection law, Pynthorumkhrah MLA AL Hek escaped the legalities when he ditched the BJP and joined Congress last year.
The State BJP had filed a petition to the Speaker Charles Pyngrope to justify the decision not to disqualify Hek, the lone MLA from the party then, but to no avail.
Hek is currently serving as the Chairman of the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority.
When contacted, NCP leader Conrad Sangma said Marak at present cannot resign from the party and join another without quitting as an MLA.
On Marak’s allegations against Purno Sangma, the Opposition Leader said, “How can he question the intelligence of the people of Garo Hills who have been voting for PA Sangma for the last 30 years.”
He should remember that he won the elections because of the help of PA Sangma, Conrad asserted.
Source: The Shillong Times
