By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The House on Thursday witnessed war of words between two UDP legislators over allotment ticket to a non-indigenous person during a discussion on the motion on influx.
This unprecedented incident had virtually turned the Assembly into a party forum.
Raising the issue, Nongkrem legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit said that the UDP compromised its basic principle and ideology by allotting ticket to a non-tribal.
“By this the party is trying to woo the non-tribals including those in Shillong,” Basaiawmoit said, adding, “I was suspended from the party for protesting this decision of the party”.
He said that he could not imagine what would happen if the House is filled with many non-tribal representatives.
Reacting to it, UDP legislator Paul Lyngdoh said politics in the country is going through a change.
While recalling the major attack against Muslim community in Gujarat in 2002, he said that the Muslim population accepted the BJP eight years after the attack by voting it to power in the State.
He said that even in a State like Goa which is dominated by Christians, BJP was voted to power while adding that he strongly feels why the same should not happen in Meghalaya. Lyngdoh said that party has realized the importance of getting the support of the genuine non-tribals. “I do not find there is anything wrong if we allot ticket to a non-tribal,” he said. According to the UDP legislator, the genuine non-tribals can play an important role in containing the entrance of illegal migrants.
“We need to take the genuine non-tribals into confidence in this fight against the problem of influx. It is only with the help of the genuine non-tribals they can identify the illegal immigrants who comes to the State,” he said.
Lyngdoh said that it is impossible for the local indigenous people to detect the illegal immigrants who comes to the State.