By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Sep 14: The Opposition camp appears to be in disarray ahead of the autumn session of the 60-member state Assembly.
A Trinamool Congress leader, declining to be named, said the leader of the Opposition usually calls a meeting of all the Opposition MLAs to strategize and prepare for a productive session. There is no sign of such a meeting this time, he added.
“Parliamentary practice and convention warrant that the leader of the Opposition convenes a meeting of all the Opposition MLAs to take up issues jointly. This is done primarily to make optimum use of the time available for the Opposition MLAs to raise issues in the House,” he said.
“Lack of coordination and effective time management may lead to a clash of motions, special motions and topics during the short-duration notices and call attention motion,” the TMC leader said.
“A joint effort can help prioritise the issues that need to be highlighted in the House on priority,” he said.
The Voice of the People Party MLA from Mawlai constituency, Brightstarwell Marbaniang said the VPP was not a part of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) that sits before each session of the Assembly to bring out the calendar for the session.
“We also did not receive any invitation from the leader of the Opposition for the joint meeting,” he said.
Marbaniang lamented the short duration of the autumn session and said the VPP has lined up a host of issues to be raised in the Assembly but is unsure if it will be able to do so effectively, given the paucity of time.
Asked to list some of the issues the party would raise in the House, he said the menace of drugs in the state is one of the burning issues.
“We have often spoken about it and we will raise this issue because the problem is no longer restricted to one or two areas but has become a state-wide problem and penetrated to the remotest parts of the state,” he said.
Commenting on the criticism over the short duration of the autumn session, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday said the calendar is approved by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) which has the opposition MLAs as members.
Reacting to the demand of the VPP for extension of the duration of the session, the CM said, “If you see in history the autumn session has been held for an exact number of days in the past.”
Stating that individual members could have concerns, he said there are rules and procedures which are required to be followed.
Sangma also informed that the government will table the amendments to the Meghalaya Goods and Services Tax, 2017, the Meghalaya Medical Council Act and the National Law University Act for consideration of the House.