The Congress legislators of Meghalaya boycotted the customary address by the Governor on the first day of the Budget Session of the State Legislative Assembly on Friday.
The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) of Meghalaya boycotted the address in protest against the controversial tweet by Governor Tathagata Roy to boycott Kashmiris.
The Congress legislators were of the view that such a comment from Roy is a disgrace and an insult to his ‘honourable office’.
It may be recalled that five days after the terror attack at Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir, the Governor of Meghalaya has sparked off a fresh controversy by making an appeal to the public to ‘boycott everything Kashmiri’.
Roy, a BJP leader and right-wing Hindu ideologue on his Twitter handle had written:
“Don’t visit Kashmir, don’t go to Amarnath for the next 2 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’.
The comments by the constitutional head of a state have drawn sharp reactions from across the country including former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah reacting promptly.
Even senior Congress leader and former finance Minister P Chidambaram had dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take action against the Meghalaya Governor over his remarks to boycott Kashmiri goods.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) had also urged President Ram Nath Kovind to sack Meghalaya Governor.