Congress demands all-party meet

SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday reaffirmed his opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill amidst allegations that he has gone soft.
Talking to media persons here, he said that the MDA government will remain firm in opposing the CAB if it has anything against the people of the state. “We are going to oppose if there is anything against our people. The interest of our people and interest of our state is a priority to us”, Sangma said.
Asked about allegations he has softened his stand on the CAB, he said that it will not be appropriate to judge whether he has softened or hardened his stand on this issue.
“It is a question of approach. Last time, we did not even get a chance to see what was in it. We were in the dark whether it is going against us or it is for us or whether there are provisions to safeguard our interest. We had no choice other than to oppose it since whatever was being done was without our knowledge. But now we are seeing a very different approach from the Centre. We are seeing a lot of talk and discussion going on,” he said.
Stating that different groups and organisations will be meeting the Union Home Minister and officials from the Home Ministry, he said that the state government will be able to decide how to move forward depending on the outcome of these discussions.
“We would like to know whether the concerns of the state and the people are addressed or not,” the chief minister said.
On what had transpired during his meeting with the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, he said that he had asked him to visit Shillong and other states of the North East for discussions on the Bill and he (Amit Shah) has agreed”, Sangma said.
Informing that there were leaders from other states who had accompanied him during his meeting with the Home Minister, Sangma said that they had also requested that their people would like to meet him regarding the issue.
“He (Union Home Minister) was very positive and said he would like to meet people to discuss and address their concerns”, Sangma said.