SHILLONG:
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sanbor Shullai, on July 8, tendered an apology for interrupting Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh’s speech during the meeting convened to garner support for the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) presidential nominee Draupadi Murmu in the state on July 6.
“About the meet at Orchid Lake Resort, Umiam on July 6, 2022, I would like to clear the air by stating that the turn of events was completely unintended and that it has been completely misinterpreted. I will personally speak with the chief minister and Speaker with regards to it after my return from Kolkata and shall extend my apology in case it has caused any kind of distress to anyone at the meeting,” the cabinet minister said in a statement issued on Friday.
The cabinet minister, through the same statement, also sought action against his party colleague AL Hek for trying to take political mileage out of the incident. Alleging that the issue was “blown out of proportion” by Hek, Shullai said, “It came as a rude shock to me as my own party colleague AL Hek tried to derive political mileage out of it and the incident, which happened within closed doors, has gone on to become public.”
Urging the party state president to initiate action against Hek, Shullai said,”BJP, which is very much part of the MDA government, has always supported peace and communal harmony and has ensured that people belonging to all faiths and religions live peacefully in Meghalaya. If AL Hek and others endorse that BJP is an anti-Christian party then why align with BJP?”
Shullai also said that the issue of alleged atrocities committed against Christians in other states of the country, raised by the Speaker during his speech in the meeting, was not in sync with the convene meeting’s motto.
“In my personal opinion, the NDA presidential candidate came here to seek support and at such a time, to raise topics of other states in front of her was completely out of the line. Had the issue been that of our state, the BJP Meghalaya and I, for certain, would have collectively stand for it. In short, it was not an opportune time as the issue has nothing to do with Meghalaya,” he said.
Referring to the time when protests demanding exemption from the Citizen (Amendment) Act was at its peak in the North East, Shullai claimed that he was the only legislator from the region to suggest the Centre to exempt states under the Sixth Schedule from it. “I have very much stood by all our MDA partners through every crisis and remained faithful to my party and to the leader of MDA Conrad Sangma,” the statement read.
Shullai further claimed that his relationship with the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the National People’s Party goes long back and its credit goes to (L) Donkupar Roy and (L) Purno A Sangma.
“I once again extend my sincere apologies towards the whole incident and reiterate that my comment was made to acknowledge the fact that BJP is a secular party and doesn’t promote or support any anti-religious activities be it against Christians or others,” he concluded.