Ao to visit city for ‘settlement’

SHILLONG, June 1: With the war of words between the NPP and the BJP turning worse, M Chuba Ao has taken it upon himself to don the mantle of firefighter and is set to visit the city next week to push for an amicable settlement.
Ao on Wednesday told The Shillong Times that he will hold discussions with Cabinet minister Sanbor Shullai, senior leader AL Hek and party president Ernest Mawrie to find out the exact cause of the growing resentment between the two parties.
“We will then meet the chief minister and attempt to resolve the differences,” he said.
Asked if there was any possibility of the BJP withdrawing from the MDA government, Ao said such a decision can be taken only by the party’s central leadership and not by the state unit.
It may be mentioned that the BJP executive committee meeting held last week had discussed the need to withdraw from the NPP-led MDA government. The meeting was attended by BJP leader Ajay Jamwal.
During the meeting, the BJP workers and leaders had expressed their desire to come out of the coalition owing to the plethora of corruption cases especially those related to implementation of central schemes. The shoddy construction of the Assembly building, ISBT and Mawlai Bypass had also annoyed the BJP workers and leaders.
Earlier, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma made it crystal clear that if the state BJP was unhappy, the party high command was free to send a message to the NPP that they do not want to support the government anymore.