SHILLONG, April 2: Coming down heavily on All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) over the party MP’s demand in the Rajya Sabha for minority status to Hindus in Meghalaya, suspended Congress Legislature Party (CLP) MLA, Ampareen Lyngdoh, on Saturday, said it is unbecoming of the AITC.
“That is what makes it so unbecoming of the AITC. We would like to see campaigns in 2023 polls to not be about community and communal divide; we should avoid those territories as they can only create more confusion in the long run,” Ampareen remarked.
Stating that the AITC MP’s statement is creating a controversy in Meghalaya, Lyngdoh observed that such an issue at point should have been left under wraps. “This kind of statement can unnecessarily create a bit of a tension and this is something which should not happen to us at this point of time,” she said.
Suggesting that leaders of various political parties should be cautious while flagging issue of this kind so as to ensure there is no snowballing effect on the society, the suspended CLP legislator said that the leaders should speak with some responsibility.
Making further insinuations, Lyngdoh said, “In my opinion, it is an irresponsible statement and one should deter political parties from taking and towing these lines. We should disallow political parties to tow these lines as the fallout of irresponsible statement can be very serious.”
The AITC could have talked about so many other things required in the state, while leaving this ‘communal tone’ out of the picture, she opined.
Citing the Centre’s assertion in the Supreme Court that states can consider granting Hindus minority status if they deem so, Trinamool Congress MP Shanta Chhetri from West Bengal on Friday had demanded in the Rajya Sabha that the community be granted minority status in Meghalaya.