By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Opposition leader Mukul Sangma, while mocking the helplessness of the new government in the face of the ongoing crisis, said if the Congress gets the mandate again, his government will resolve the issue of Punjabi Lane.
“We will handle the matter if they don’t know how to handle it. We will handle it within a reasonable period of time. We know these people cannot handle this so we will handle it,” Sangma told media persons after the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party.
When asked why the Congress, despite being in power for many years failed to shift the colony, Sangma said everything cannot be resolved in eight years.
He added that the Congress faced multiple challenges and accordingly every contentious issue was identified and deliberated upon and possibilities were explored to resolve them.
The State Congress asked the government to immediately constitute a judicial inquiry and further proceed as per the provisions of the law to restore peace in the city.
“The judicial inquiry will give a clear picture about what is happening and what should be done.
“There will be terms of reference when we constitute the inquiry. The government will have the privilege to have an insight of all the information and act upon that,” Sangma said.
He slammed the government for failing to sustain peace in the state that was achieved after a long-drawn exercise by his government.
“It is a sad thing that the government has not even completed three months and they have messed up everything,” he said while maintaining that the name and fame that the previous government had built over the years for the state and putting Meghalaya among the top tourist destinations has been adversely affected, in other words derailing the whole momentum of development in the state.
According to Sangma, it is the responsibility of the state government to maintain peace and in the event of breakdown of law and order it is the government’s responsibility to handle such situations in a manner to achieve the objectives of restoration of peace.
Stating that the people has lost confidence in the present government and they are looking at this government with a question as to what has gone wrong with them, Sangma also attacked the MDA government saying, “We really don’t know whether the Union Ministry of Home Affairs is calling the shots or the Chief Minister’s Office or the Office of the Home Minister of the State.”
When asked if the party is supporting the demand of removing Punjabi Lane (Them Iew Mawlong), he said the Congress is not just supporting but this was one of the initiatives of all the political parties which is available as part of the records of the government.
“It is something which is collectively asked for by all the political parties of the state, including the Congress,” he said and added that earlier efforts were made but certain things were not acceptable as certain localities did not want to get those space allotted to these groups of people who should be relocated or shifted, hence there is a need for comprehensive measures to deal with the situation.
Mum on next move
Sangma, however, refused to divulge the plan of the Congress about staking claim to form government is concerned.
“That is a million dollar question – when you play three cards, you don’t put all the cards on the table and politics is as simple as that so don’t expect me to put all my cards on the table. It is close to my chest okay,” Sangma said.
