Shillong, Aug 7: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has defended the merger of Congress MLAs with the National People’s Party (NPP), dismissing allegations of “poaching” and “luring” MLAs.
According to him, the MLAs had joined the NPP seeking development opportunities for their constituencies.
Speaking to media persons on Thursday, Sangma stated that the MLAs approached him seeking development opportunities, which he assured would be prioritized.
He clarified that there were no conditions attached to their joining, emphasizing that development and trust-building were the party’s primary focus.
The chief minister defended the merger process, stating that it was done in accordance with the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
“All the individuals that have come in have followed those procedures and that is why the assembly speaker after seeing the procedure and being satisfied with the procedure have given his consent,” he said.
“You cannot just simply say that just because the merger happened that it is a mockery of the law, no, the law says that you can do it provided you have this and you cannot do it, if you don’t have this. So if we didn’t have it, then we would not be able to merge, they would not be able to merge. So there is no question of mockery as merger has been done as per provisions of the Tenth Schedule as per the provisions of the anti-defection law,” Sangma added.
The chief minister also addressed concerns about discontentment within the NPP, acknowledging that differences and concerns are natural in any organization.
He asserted the importance of engagement, accessibility, and leadership in addressing these issues and fostering a sense of unity within the party.
“…there will always be concerns, there will always be issues but leadership must connect with the people, leadership must engage with the people and try its best to resolve this problem and I think that is the key for organisation or government or any private party also or private sector to grow in the long run, overcoming those challenges, overcoming those obstacle and that’s how you should work,” Sangma added.
