RESUBELPARA:
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, on July 28, revealed that five of the 12 All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MLAs are in close touch with the National People’s Party (NPP) leaders and the AITC can disintegrate anytime.
“First thing is that the opposition is now broken. Congress and opposition are now fractured. Five of the twelve AITC MLAs are talking to us at various levels, but I don’t want to disclose their names. AITC is breaking, it is in disintegration mode,” Sangma told reporters on the sidelines of a function organised to launch the second phase of FOCUS programme at Resubelpara mini stadium in North Garo Hills district.
Sangma also claimed that state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president Bernard Marak’s arrest will not have any impact on the NPP-BJP ties in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA).
Stating it to a personal matter of an individual and BJP is a professional organisation, the Chief Minister said, “You see his (Bernard’s) past records. He is a surrendered militant with more than 25 pending cases against him. And he was arrested as per the law and evidences found against him. This has nothing to do with politics and will not impact the alliance. Moreover, I think BJP is a professional organisation. Some people may try to influence the alliance, but neither NPP nor BJP will allow this personnel issue to govern the alliance.”
The Chief Minister, while dismissing leader of the oppositions, Mukul Sangma’s claim that the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Meghalaya and Assam needs to be revisited, said that the MDA has followed the records and maps of the Assam-Meghalaya border that were submitted to the Assam government by the Mukul Sangma-led government in August, 2011.
“The maps were drawn by his government. Based on those report we made negotiations. And today Mukul is saying that his party (All India Trinamool Congress) do not believe that map, this is not correct. This is a very ironic situation. He is a hypocrite and should refrain from playing politics with the MoU,” the Chief Minister said.