SHILLONG, Feb 21: Stating that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma is setting a new trend in politics, Congress MLA, Ampareen Lyngdoh, on Sunday said his recent statement on state BJP chief Ernest Mawrie is a display of the growing discomfort in the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).
Pointing out the “open confrontation” between BJP and National People’s Party (NPP), she said, “The CM, who is the NPP national president, talking about the affairs of an MDA constituent was a complete display of the discomfort being felt in the ruling dispensation.”
She said a Congress CM in the state had never commented this way on any member of the Assembly or leaders of coalition partners.
“He has set a new trend in politics and this is very interesting,” Lyngdoh said. “We will have to wait, watch and see if he can actually boot out the president of a coalition partner,” she said.
Earlier, Lyngdoh stated that the Congress “listens to the voices of the people” and would not hesitate to join the BJP in the fight against corruption if the allegations of graft against the government are substantiated.
The CM had on Friday claimed that more than half the BJP leaders and the party’s two MLAs favour Mawrie’s ouster. This comes after months of a strained relationship between NPP and BJP.
The BJP has been very critical of the NPP-led government, particularly on the issue of alleged corruption. It had demanded the resignation of the state’s Home Minister when six people died in a coal pit mishap in East Jaintia Hills recently.
The BJP had flagged the issue of alleged misappropriation of Central funds under Special Assistant Grants by the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council.
The party had demanded an independent probe but the government ordered a five-year audit of receipt of funds and expenditures.