Keep state out of Election Amendment Bill: Cong

SHILLONG, Dec 21: The Opposition Congress of Tuesday criticised the passage of the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill in Parliament that seeks to link electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem and has urged the Centre and the state to exempt Meghalaya from its purview.
The Bill was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday through voice vote and was cleared by the Rajya Sabha amid walkout by the Opposition.
“They have passed the bill to link EPIC and Aadhaar in a hurry but people in Meghalaya are still opposed to the Aadhaar enrolment drive. We will urge both the state and central government not to apply this in Meghalaya as people here are opposed to it,” Congress working president, PN Syiem said on Tuesday.
Syiem also said that the East Khasi Hills District Congress Committee met on Tuesday and discussed the issue at length, besides taking up the matter pertaining to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
“We understand that CAA will be applied in Meghalaya except in the Scheduled areas. We urge the central government to exempt the entire state from the purview of the CAA,” he added.
Party support base intact
The Congress leader dismissed any setback to the party after the exit of the 12 MLAs, saying that the party has ten Block committees in East Khasi Hills out of which they are very strong in seven and work is under way to strengthen the party in the remaining three blocks.
He also asserted that the support base of the Congress is intact despite the desertion by the MLAs.
Syiem also said that the name of Banshan Lawai has been recommended as the new working president of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee.
Tough battle at hand for Pynthorumkhrah
Syiem, who is all set to go up against sitting BJP legislator AL Hek for the Pynthorumkhrah seat in the 2023 elections, admitted that the battle of ballots would be a tough one for both leaders.
“Pynthorumkhrah is a general seat. We have many communities there but people are in favour of the Congress party,” he said, adding that the party’s acceptance level was very high in the constituency.