Shillong, Nov 23: The much-awaited meeting of the MDA Coordination Committee over accusations of corruption has been summoned on November 26.
Despite NPP State president, WR Kharlukhi’s threat to keep BJP out of the meeting, two BJP MLAs in the coalition are expected to attend the meeting. Significantly, the party president Ernest Mawrie and vice-president Bernard Marak have not been invited.
Months after BJP started making accusations of corruption and other illegalities on the MDA Government, Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma who is also the chairman of the ruling MDA has called for the meeting of the coalition partners to sort out the uneasy situation created by the relentless allegations made by the saffron party.
While Hek toed the party line on this tricky situation, his fellow party colleague Sanbor Shullai queered the pitch by throwing his weight behind the ruling coalition. Shullai has been maintaining that the party had not taken him into confidence and he was not a party to the decision to go against the MDA on corruption issue.
The relationship between NPP and BJP soured earlier this year when the latter exposed alleged corruption worth crores of rupees in GHADC and JHADC. The BJP was bent on having a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities but the MDA Government stonewalled the demand.
The saffron party then even took cognizance of the illegal transportation of coal in the state and sought an inquiry into the matter.
Following the continuous allegations, the NPP even dared BJP to leave the alliance if they were uncomfortable in the alliance and as BJP kept on making accusations. The BJP MLAs had also advised the party leadership not to issue such statements after which the saffron party went silent for some time.
However, BJP renewed its stand against corruption once again when it proclaimed to move the Lokayukta, asking for a probe and then followed it up with another statement that the party was moving Court and the Union Home Ministry.