TURA:
The Congress party in Meghalaya has distanced itself from the statement made by one of its own MLAs, Mawhati MLA Charles Marngar, who lent support to the review of the state reservation policy, clarifying that it was the legislator’s own personal views and not those of the grand old party.
The Mawhati MLA, who also happens to be the Secretary of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), stated that the reservation policy needed to be reviewed like all other policies and went a step further to say that “prospective implementation” of the roster system also needed to be undertaken.
Facing a backlash over the remarks by the legislator, who appears to have broken ranks from the official party line, the high command of Congress in the state has gone into firefighting mode.
The working president of the MPCC, Smt. Deborah C. Marak, issued an official statement on Saturday evening distancing the party from the statement of the MLA.
“The Indian National Congress is the oldest political party in the country. We never make hasty decisions. The statement made by the MLA is an individual one and has no connection to the party line. We would like to clarify that no decision or stand has been taken by the party on these issues,” said Deborah Marak.
She further clarified that a small committee within the Congress is being set up to deliberate on these issues and take a collective decision.
“Till such time as an official statement from the party is released, we would like to request that every citizen of the state not be swayed by individual comments; after all, the Congress is a mature political party that always takes everyone on board,” added MPCC working president Deborah Marak.