Meghalaya Guv declines to confirm on his rejoining

Amidst speculations and uncertainty, Meghalaya Governor Tathagata Roy on Tuesday said that he would not make any comment about his current leave period and rejoining gubernatorial function.

"I would not make any comment about my leave period and when I would return Shillong Raj Bhavan," Roy told over phone from Kolkata.

Officials of Shillong Raj Bhavan, when contacted, said that they have no information about Roy's rejoining and extension of leave.

Roy had gone on 18-day leave in the third week of December last year following his controversial tweet asking those who do not want "divisive democracy should go to North Korea" during the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the state.

Roy, a former state President of BJP's West Bengal unit from 2002 to 2006 and a staunch Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) follower, supposed to join on January 4.

As additional charge, Nagaland Governor R.N. Ravi, who is also the Centre's interlocutor for the ongoing peace talks with various Naga insurgent groups, has assumed the office of the Meghalaya governor on December 17.

According to an official source, Roy decided to extend his leave after a telephonic conversation with the officials in the Union Home Ministry but there is no official communication in the Shillong Raj Bhavan.

Roy, a former governor of Tripura and transferred to Meghalaya in August 2018, would end his normal tenure as Meghalaya Governor in May.

There has been difference between the Governor and the National People's Party-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government over his refusal to give his assent to the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019. BJP is an ally of the MDA government in Meghalaya.

Various political parties including opposition Congress has been demanding Roy's recall as Meghalaya governor for his frequent controversial and objectionable tweets and comments in the social media.

Roy was in Jadavpur University in Kolkata as professor and founder head of the department of construction engineering after he played a key role in construction of metro rail in Kolkata as its chief engineer.

( With inputs from IANS )