Congress urges Nagaland Guv to 'nullify' appointment of MLAs as advisors

The Congress urged Nagaland Governor La Ganesan to "nullify" the appointment of 24 newly-elected MLAs as advisors in various departments, claiming that the government violated constitutional provisions as they did not take oath as legislators before their appointment.

It is astonishing to note that the NDPP-BJP were in a rush to appoint advisors in different government departments, state Congress working president Khriedi Theunuo said, adding that without taking the oath, these legislators are not "full-fledged MLAs" of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly.

"Nonetheless, the NDPP-BJP government in clear violation of the constitutional principles of the separation of powers between the legislature, judiciary and executive which is the basic structure of the Constitution of India, has given the executive powers as Advisors to the 24 of them (MLAs)," Theunuo said.

The state government on Thursday appointed the 24 newly-elected MLAs advisors to various government departments. "This arrangement would help utilise the vast and practical experience of the members of NLA for the benefit of the public at large," stated the appointment notification issued by Cabinet Secretary J Alam.

The NDPP-BJP won 37 seats in the 60-member Nagaland assembly. The Congress also raised concern over the appointment of Mhathung Yanthan as the speaker pro tem.

"This is also in contravention to the laid down norms as Yanthan has already been given the executive powers as an Advisor along with 23 other members of NDPP-BJP government on Thursday while he took oath as the Pro-tem Speaker only on Friday. "Such oversight of law by NDPP-BJP is very disgraceful and unacceptable," he said.

The Congress, which did not win any seat in the state elections, sought the intervention of the governor to nullify the appointment of the advisors and the speaker pro tem. The notification issued on Thursday stated that the advisors will render their advice on matters that are referred to them by the departments concerned before it is taken up by the minister in charge for a decision.