SHILLONG, Jan 31: Claiming that the Union government has virtually rejected the demand of Inner Line Permit (ILP), opposition Congress on Sunday said it would not accompany any team to Delhi to discuss the issue.
“I feel there is a big no from the Centre’s side but they are not saying it to us. Under no circumstances will the Congress be a party to any group going to Delhi to discuss ILP with Union Home Minister Amit Shah because when he had come to our state, nobody was willing to listen to us,” Congress MLA Ampareen Lyngdoh told The Shillong Times.
She said it could have been a suitable time for all political parties to discuss ILP with Shah.
“Even the Cabinet Ministers could not discuss the matter. Going to Delhi to discuss it would just be another attempt to distract the people of the state from the truth of the matter,” Lyngdoh said.
She said other stakeholders, including pressure groups, were also not given an audience. It shows that the Government of India is not serious about the issue, she said.
Stating that the meeting with Shah has become a “big joke” in Meghalaya, Lyngdoh said, “What’s the point in leaving for Delhi now to meet him when he just returned from our state? Why couldn’t we have discussed it during his visit?” Lyngdoh asked.
“If anybody is hoping that all 60 legislators will go to Delhi, I am sorry to say that it will not work,” she said.
The Congress leader said democracy will take a beating if the resolution for ILP, passed by the state Assembly unanimously, is not heard by the Central government.
The January 23 meeting of state Cabinet and the leaders of various pressure groups with Shah on the ILP issue was disappointing. It ended with the submission of a memorandum, posing for photos and the Namaste gesture. Shah had assured that he would meet and discuss the issue with them in New Delhi in February.
The state government hopes that he will give time to it to discuss the issue during the ongoing Budget Session of the Parliament.