SHILLONG, April 18: National People’s Party (NPP) spokesperson and MLA, Marcuise N Marak on Sunday said the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) stands strong and is thriving under the leadership of Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma.
The statement comes against the backdrop of the Congress’ charge that the NPP, which heads the MDA, has sidelined the other constituents.
Marak said, “The Congress has every right to attack us but we are concerned about our MDA partners. The CM is accommodative and he consults every MLA of the coalition. Therefore, there are no issues at all”.
He said the CM is running the government by being accommodative and inclusive and he is giving a freehand to the MLAs of the coalition to raise and sort out issues of their constituencies.
“The CM is running the government with the spirit that the MLAs are the CM of their own constituency,” he said.
Congress MP, Vincent Pala had recently accused the NPP of sidelining its coalition partners, such as the BJP and the United Democratic Party. He felt that was one of the main reasons why the two parties were raking up issues against the government.
Talking about the non-inclusion of the BJP in the NPP-led coalition that staked claim for power in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), Marak said, “We are coalition partners in the state government and we did not have any agreement between us as we fought the GHADC elections”.
“We don’t have any issues. They attacked us and we attacked them. It happens in politics. The people have given their mandate and we respect it,” the NPP spokesperson said.
He said the Garo Hills Democratic Coalition (GHDC) was constituted to form the GHADC’s new executive committee and as per the common minimum programme, most of the coalition partners have decided to focus on the clearance of the salaries of employees and a few other issues which require the immediate attention of the executive committee.
“With the help of the state government, we’ll address all issues of the Council. Give us some time and you will be able to see the results,” Marak added.