SHILLONG, Jan 11: The opposition Congress has slammed the MDA government, under fire from pressure groups, for the delay in the implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) in the state.
Leader of the Opposition and former chief minister, Mukul Sangma questioned the commitment of the state government in pushing the Centre for ILP in Meghalaya.
“We have given the mandate to the government… Now it is their duty to fulfil this responsibility to prevail upon the government of India and pursue what they have promised on the floor of the House,” Sangma told reporters on Monday.
The former CM said the people have to revisit the government’s assurance on ILP and that the Congress Legislature Party raised the issue before the pressure groups asked all 60 MLAs to go to New Delhi for the final push.
The Meghalaya Assembly had in December 2019 unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to implement ILP in the state. The Centre has not made its stand on the permit system clear despite two meetings between Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma and Union Home Minister Amit Shah since then.
“We are not playing to the gallery and we are not going to go by what others say. We have demonstrated our conviction and our stand on the floor of the House, so we don’t have to be told what to do as a political party and as responsible elected representatives,” Sangma said.
On Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju’s statement that ILP would be a political decision, the former CM said: “That was a diplomatic statement given by one of the members of the union cabinet. You have to read between the lines. Why didn’t you ask them about the resolution and about the commitment of the parties in the government including the BJP, which is part of the coalition?”