Congress to stake claim to form govt in Meghalaya

Claiming that the Congress has a majority in the Meghalaya assembly, former chief minister D D Lapang on Saturday said the party will stake claim at an "appropriate time" to form the government in the state which is under president's rule.

Claiming that the Congress has a majority in the Meghalaya assembly, former chief minister D D Lapang on Saturday said the party will stake claim at an "appropriate time" to form the government in the state which is under president's rule.

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"We don't want president's rule to continue for longer time in Meghalaya. We have the majority. We will stake claim at an appropriate time," Lapang told reporters in New Delhi.

Citing a "constitutional breakdown", the central government on Wednesday decided to impose president's rule in Meghalaya, a day after the state government barely survived a trust vote with the help of the assembly speaker.

The president on Thursday signed the proclamation imposing president's rule in the state.

Lapang termed the speaker's decision to disqualify five legislators before the trust vote as unconstitutional and unethical.

"Even the speaker could not vote as the Congress moved no-confidence motion against the speaker even before the trust vote," he said.