SHILLONG, Feb 3: State BJP president Ernest Mawrie on Wednesday said a time will come for his party to take a call on pulling out of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).
His statement has assumed significance after the United Democratic Party (UDP), a constituent of the MDA, echoed National People’s Party leader and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong’s advice to the BJP to leave if it was not happy with the coalition partners.
“Time will tell if we move out. But it is too early to say now,” Mawrie told media persons.
He said every political party should have an agenda and raise issues such as rampant corruption.
“Being in the coalition does not mean we should remain silent. It is the duty of the political parties to raise issues,” he added.
The state BJP president said that “an incident too many” has clearly established the extent of illegal coal mining and transportation in Meghalaya. “A few pressure groups and social activists have already revealed the facts. It is now time for all political parties to act if they feel the allegations are correct,” he said.
The BJP, an MDA constituent, has been raising issues of illegal coal mining and alleged large-scale corruption in the Garo Hills and Jaintia Hills autonomous district councils. The death of six labourers in a coal pit in East Jaintia Hills district on January 21 made the saffron party more vocal against state Home Minister Lakhmen Rymbui.