By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 27: Not all seems to be well between “friends turned foes” Pyniaid Sing Syiem, the KHADC Chief Executive Member, and Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, the VPP supremo, with the former now accusing the latter of having an alleged link with the then chief minister, Mukul Sangma in the matter of the MUDA Building Bye-laws.
Syiem claimed that the link between Ardent and Mukul was exposed when the former had welcomed the government notification to extend the MUDA Building Bye-laws to areas outside the Shillong Municipality in 2015 after initially opposing it.
“I was at the forefront of the protest led by Basaiawmoit to oppose the notification. But later it was revealed that he (Basaiawmoit) already had an ‘agreement’ with Mukul about the extension of the bye-laws,” Syiem told reporters on Wednesday.
Syiem said initially he was quite impressed with Basaiawmoit for raising issues afflicting the people inside the House due to which he had even joined the HSPDP just to be part of his movement.
The KHADC CEM recalled that he was elected as MDC of Sohryngkham in 2014 and the MUDA bye-laws issue cropped up a year later when the state government issued the notification due to which people started facing problems in getting building permission from MUDA.
He also recalled that Basaiawmoit, who the HSPDP chief at that time, had even organised a rally at Malki ground to oppose the notification and to demand its immediate withdrawal.
“We even tried to storm the Secretariat. But to everyone’s surprise, Basaiawmoit emerged from a meeting held at Secretariat and announced that they have decided to accept the MUDA notification,” Syiem recalled.
“I realized that the protest against MUDA was only a drama and I took the decision to quit the HSPDP which was led by Basaiawmoit at that time,” Syiem added.