SHILLONG: The National People’s Party and United Democratic Party, both constituents of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance in the state along with the BJP, have expressed opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), which was passed in the Lok Sabha late Monday night.
NPP state president, WR Kharlukhi, on Monday said that the party will not accept CAB but was yet to decide on how to go ahead to oppose it.
When asked if NPP will break its ties with BJP, Kharlukhi said that he alone cannot decide on the matter and the party will have to take the call nationally. UDP senior leader Bindo M Lanong said that if it is for a good reason, the party can break its ties with BJP as it has done in the past with the Congress.
He, however, maintained that if ties are to be broken with BJP, it should be done together with all the parties of the alliance.
He said that what the UDP has been given to understand by the Centre is that schedule areas of the state, which comprise about 97 per cent, will be exempted from the purview of the bill, but the party wants the entire state to be left out.
The Centre has also told the UDP that there will be no fresh deportation of foreigners once the CAB is implemented and those already in the country will continue to remain.
Meanwhile, Opposition Chief Whip and Congress MLA PT Sawkmie said that the BJP now should come out from the MDA government as all the coalition partners are opposing the bill.
He also said that BJP just because it has majority is hell bent on bringing the bill despite the opposition, which is not good for a democracy.
BJP state president Shibun Lyngdoh said that the CAB is for the interest of the nation even as he added that the party in Meghalaya is happy for the fact that Sixth Schedule and ILP areas have been exempted from its purview.
When asked about the opposition to the bill by NGOs and the political parties, he said that it is natural for them to oppose any bill to show their presence in the field of politics.
