ADOKGRE, Jan 23: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is confident that the attempts made by the MDA Government to solve the border issue with Assam would affect the NPP positively and give it an upper hand in the February 27 elections in the state.
The CM made the assertion during a press conference on the sidelines of the launch of the NPP’s election campaign to retain power in the state.
The CM appeared confident of not only being the largest party in the state but also gaining a majority, something that has not happened since the first elections to the state of Meghalaya, when APHLC garnered an absolute majority over getting statehood.
“The border resolution that we have taken up will affect the party’s prospects in a positive way as previous governments have never tried to resolve it as they understood its political implications. We however thought differently. We felt we would not be able to serve the people if we thought about political risks. We went ahead despite the challenges and took the first step forward. It’s a process and we have started it,” stated Conrad.
He asserted that they have worked with the people, held hundreds of meetings at the grassroots level to work out a solution. “There is never a perfect solution but we are trying to work towards a solution, It just shows that we are the only party that is committed to the border resolution issue,” Conrad said.
On the question of corruption issues raised by even the NPP’s coalition partners, Conrad stated that he had always been open for discussion on such issues.
“We have been very free and open to inquiry even of a judicial nature. I think we must have the maximum number of judicial inquiries during our tenure because we want people to know that we are transparent and allow for everyone to know it is the case,” Conrad asserted.
The border MoU, signed by Conrad and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma on March 29 last year had sparked widespread protests with political parties and pressure groups demanding scrapping of the agreement. The protests continued for a greater part of 2022.
Four traditional heads of the Khasi Syiemship filed a plea in the High Court of Meghalaya after which the court put a stay on the execution of the MoU. The High Court had ordered that “no physical demarcation or erection of boundary posts on the ground, pursuant to the MoU dated March 29, 2022 shall be carried out, till the next date”.
The Supreme Court later stayed the High Court’s order putting on hold the MoU.
