SHILLONG: Opposition leaders in the State have criticised the Government for not being serious about resolving the boundary dispute with Assam.
The criticisms came a day after a meeting between Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and his Assam counterpart Sarbananda Sonowal in Guwahati. The meeting was later pushed to the chief secretary level.
HSPDP president Ardent Basaiawmoit said, “What do you expect from a 30-minute talk? It shows that the government is not serious to settle the issue.”
Asserting that the talks were only formalities, he said the dialogue could have been more progressive and the discussions should have been extended for 2-3 hours as it has been a contentious issue for several decades.
He added that he was upset after media reports stated that the meeting was only for 30 minutes.
When asked whether the State government should have invited the opposition to join the meeting, Basaiawmoit said, “If the government was serious, it should have called the opposition as it is not just the concern of the ruling party.”
The HSPDP member said the opposition’s involvement would have added importance to the issue.
Meanwhile, UDP working president Bindo Lanong has come down heavily on the State government contending that it is “playing politics before elections”.
“What have they been doing for so many years? We don’t want to hear meetings after meetings, we want solutions as we are fed up,” he said.
“Forget politicising the issue, we want solution,” he added.
