GUWAHATI: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma Thursday said the unity of the people and political parties ensured that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) was not tabled in Rajya Sabha and this was a victory for the North East.
Sangma arrived here from New Delhi along with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) leaders Atul Bora and Keshav Mahanta to a tumultuous welcome at the Lokapriyo Gopinath Bordoloi Airport.
“The bill not being presented in the Rajya Sabha is a victory of the people and political parties who voiced their opposition to the bill,” he said. This is definitely an emotional moment and “we were united for a cause and spoke in one voice to protect the interests and identity of the region,” he added. He also thanked all the political parties across the country, who came together to oppose the contentious legislation.
Sangma was the first chief minister of the North East whose cabinet took the decision of not supporting the bill and was instrumental in bringing together ten political parties of the region along with the JD(U) to oppose it.
Later Bora told reporters at the party headquarters that the northeast came together to show that the centre cannot play with the interest of the indigenous population of the region. “This should be a warning for the centre that we will in no way compromise with the future of the people of northeast,” he said (See Page 4).
The AGP leader thanked the Meghalaya chief minister for taking the initiative of bringing the different political parties opposed to the bill on a common platform and ensuring that the bill was not tabled in the Rajya Sabha. He said the bill has become redundant at present and if the next government wants to bring it again then they have to start the process again from the beginning.(PTI)
