All Party Hill Leaders’ Conference accepted Autonomous State of Meghalaya without proper demarcation of boundaries: Pala
Our Bureau
NONGPOH/ SHILLONG: Sitting MP and Congress nominee Vincent H Pala has blamed the regional parties for the delay in resolution of the inter-State boundary dispute with Assam.
“The State is yet to have its own boundaries till date because of the failure of the regional parties,” Pala said while addressing an election campaign rally at Nongpoh on Friday.
Pala claimed that after Meghalaya achieved Statehood the power was bestowed upon the All Party Hill Leaders’ Conference (APHLC), who accepted the State without proper demarcation of boundaries.
“The Congress inherited the legacy of running the government in the State from the regional parties beset with loads of problems,” Pala said.
Pala claimed that the Congress party has taken steps to rectify most of the boundary problems in view of the strong network between the State and the Central Government.
In a direct attack on the BJP, the Congress’ arch-rival at the national level, Pala warned that the minority communities would suffer greatly if the BJP comes to power. He claimed that in the party manifestos the BJP has spoken of scrapping the reservation policy of SC/ST and various developmental schemes made available to the minority communities.
He also said that the people of Meghalaya would be badly hit by such adverse policies of the BJP and appealed to the people to give him another chance to serve them as their MP.
Lambasting the BJP’s Gujarat Model campaign, Pala claimed that Meghalaya fares better than Gujarat in terms of education and economy index while also adding that Gujarat reflects nothing but communal violence leading to death of thousands and exploitation of poor farmers by Modi’s government to favour the industrialists.
MPCC chief DD Lapang recalled the circumstances that led to the demand for the Hill State and remembered that after sixteen years of struggle without bloodshed, the autonomous State of Meghalaya was granted by the Congress with the official announcement of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
The MPCC chief mentioned about the affinity of the Congress party towards Meghalaya due to which the Central Government has granted several favours to the State, especially the Central University like NEHU, NEIGHRIMS and others.
Holding the regional parties responsible for the Assam-Meghalaya border dispute, Umsning MLA Dr. Celestine Lyngdoh on Friday claimed that the border dispute had been passed on to the Congress by the APHLC, a regional party, which was at the helm of affairs when Meghalaya attained Statehood in 1972.
Dr. Lyngdoh, further, claimed that the APHLC accepted Statehood without ensuring proper demarcation of the state’s boundaries.
The Congress in 1972 had only three MLAs representing Laban, Mawprem and Cantonment constituencies, Dr. Lyngdoh said, while countering the allegations of regional parties that the Congress was responsible for the boundary disputes. “Nevertheless, the MUA-II Government is determined to resolve the border dispute but it cannot be solved by Meghalaya alone. The matter will be resolved through talks with Assam,” Dr. Lyngdoh said while addressing the gathering.
Firing salvo at the regional parties and Independent candidates who had questioned Pala’s performance in his first term as MP, the Umsning MLA recalled that Pala had made several contributions in the past five years, prominent among which are the ongoing construction of the four-lane Expressway from Jorabat to Shillong, completion of the long-pending Shillong Bypass, widening of the two-lane Shillong-Mairang-Patharkhmah-Rani Godown Road, the ongoing construction of Jowai Bypass and the ongoing Shillong-Nongstoin-Rongjeng-Tura Road project.