SHILLONG: Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma on Tuesday stoutly defended police action against Social Welfare Minister Deborah Marak saying that it would send a strong message to all concerned.
Sangma refused to admit that it was a case of silencing his political detractors and quelling rebellion in the Congress.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, a day after East Garo Hills police charge-sheeted Marak for allegedly hatching conspiracy with the banned outfit GNLA to influence the voters in the last Assembly elections held in February, 2013., the Chief Minister denied that he had pressurized the police to speedup the investigation since Deborah is known to be advocating for a change in leadership.
Earlier, the Chief Minister held meetings with Home Minister Roshan Warjri, and Government Advisor DD Lapang to discuss the possible political fallout of the matter.
The Social Welfare Minister also briefly met the Chief Minister late in the evening, but the details of the meeting were not known.
Meanwhile, the flurry of political activities have fuelled speculations as to whether Deborah would be dropped from the Cabinet after she was charge-sheeted .
At the press meet, the Chief Minister refused to comment on the matter but stated that something would unfold in a day or two.
On the other hand, the Social Welfare minister said that she would continue to be in the Cabinet and she has approached her lawyer for defending herself in the court.