By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 6: The Opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) on Wednesday stayed away from the all-party meeting convened by the Meghalaya government to discuss the report of the Expert Committee on the State Reservation Policy, the very issue on which the party had built one of its most aggressive political campaigns.
The VPP, which had spearheaded the demand for a review of the reservation policy and even staged a hunger strike that eventually forced the government to constitute the expert committee, chose not to attend the crucial consultation, citing engagement with “other pressing issues”.
The absence has raised serious questions in political circles, especially as the meeting was specifically called to deliberate on the findings and recommendations of the committee formed in response to sustained public pressure and agitation led largely by the VPP itself.
In a letter addressed to the Deputy Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya in the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit informed the government that the party would be unable to participate in the meeting.
The letter stated that the timing was “not conducive” as the party was actively engaged with “pressing issues concerning the state and its people” requiring urgent attention from the government.
“In light of these circumstances, we find ourselves unable to participate in the proposed meeting,” the letter stated.
Sources indicated that senior VPP leaders are currently occupied with public meetings and political engagements linked to preparations for the upcoming Shillong Lok Sabha by-election.
The all-party meeting was convened by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma to brief political parties on the findings of the expert committee report, which was tabled in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly earlier this year.
Government officials later confirmed that all recognised political parties attended the meeting except the VPP.
The expert committee report, which reportedly runs into 21 volumes comprising nearly 4,000 pages, examines the legal, constitutional and administrative aspects of Meghalaya’s reservation policy.
