india

Updated: Mar 08, 2019 22:52 IST

The Opposition Congress party on Friday boycotted a ceremonial address by Meghalaya governor Tathagata Roy on the first day of the state assembly’s budget session in protest against his controversial tweets in the aftermath of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14.

Congress leader and former state chief minister Mukul Sangma said Roy posted his comments at a time when Kashmiris living outside the state were being attacked in some parts of the country.

“He [Roy] had tweeted that all Kashmiri goods should be boycotted and people should not visit Kashmir,” Sangma told reporters . “Does it augur well for the nation when a person holding a constitutional post not less than that of governor, [sends out a] message that is capable of creating a rift amongst the citizens of the nation?”

“If there is a terror attack in the north-east, will people like the governor of Meghalaya tell the country to boycott the north-east?” Sangma asked.

Roy said he was not worried about the Opposition boycotting his speech. “I see they have done so. What can I do about it?” he said.

Roy, a former West Bengal state unit president of the BJP, said he had nothing to add to the tweets he has already posted.

Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma, whose National People’s Party government is supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), termed the boycott by the Opposition “unfortunate”.