Nagaland Governor R.N Ravi was given the additional charge of Meghalaya in the wake of the "absence of leave" of Tathagata Roy, a press comminque from the President's House said.
"The President of India is pleased to appoint Shri R.N. Ravi, Governor of Nagaland to discharge the functions of the Governor of Meghalaya, in addition to his own duties, during the absence on leave of Shri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Meghalaya," the statement said.
Mr. Roy, known for his controversial tweets, had run into differences with the Meghalaya government on his refusal to sign an ordinance passed by the State Cabinet seeking mandatory registration of outsiders entering the State.
Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah on December 13 and apprised him about the subject.
Like other parts of Northeast, Meghalaya has also witnessed protests against the amended Citizenship Act, which for the first time allows citizenship on basis of religion to undocumented illegal migrants belonging to six non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
Internet continues to remain suspended across the State.
A delegation led by Mr. Sangma met Mr. Shah and demanded that some “protection” on the lines of Inner Line Permit may also be implemented there.
Mr. Sangma had told The Hindu that the Amended Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Bill (MRRSA) 2019, similar to ILP, that was passed by the Cabinet in the form of an ordinance in November, still awaits Mr. Roy’s assent. Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram are under the ILP system and have been exempted from the Citizenship legislation.
“There are misconceptions around the ordinance, it is not to bar outsiders from visiting the State. It is an information collection mechanism and anyone who wants to come to our State has to register beforehand online or on reaching here," Mr. Sangma had said.
Mr. Sangma said 97% of Meghalaya is exempted from the amended Citizenship Act under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution but they have demanded that it should be extended to the remaining parts as well.
On December 13, several protestors took out a rally till Raj Bhavan in capital Shillong and demanded that Mr. Roy sign the ordinance. Many protestors were hurt.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Roy had tweeted that the country was once divided in the name of religion. “Democracy is necessarily divisive and If you do not want it go to North Korea," he tweeted.
Mr. Sangma’s National Peoples Party (NPP) is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
