SHILLONG: If the fallout of the 2G spectrum scam put Congress-NCP relations under strain at the national level, sniping between the two parties, as seen during the IPL controversy, has become all the more fierce in the northeastern part of the country.

A day after NCP's Meghalaya unit working president, E K Sangma, and seven other senior leaders joined Congress, NCP leader and former Lok Sabha speaker P A Sangma on Friday slammed the Congress-led Meghalaya government, saying the latter had no "respect for democracy".

"Meghalaya has been the worst state in terms of development. And now it is the worst where there is no rule of law, no respect to democracy and no respect for the Constitution," Sangma told mediapersons here. His outburst came a day after E K Sangma and seven other leaders all elected members of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) shifted their allegiance to Congress, paving the way for the ruling party to clinch power in the Garo council.

"I am happy to return to the parent party. I will be able to serve people better from the Congress fold," E K Sangma said. With the joining of the seven MDCs (members of district council), Congress now has 18 members in the 30-member GHADC. Following this, the state cabinet on Thursday night decided to revoke administrator rule in the GHADC and convene a special session for trial of strength and subsequent installation of a popular executive council. The GHADC was placed under administrator rule since April 1, 2010 in the wake of a political instability set off by allegations that the NCP had clung on to power despite losing majority.

Sangma, however, said the state government was "trying to forcibly install the executive committee of the GHADC in violation of a recent Gauhati High Court ruling that had asked the government to maintain a status quo".The Garo strongman said, "A division bench of the Gauhati HC had ruled that till the inquiry into the alleged financial irregularities in the GHADC is over, there cannot be any installation of the executive council (EC)."