IANS
SHILLONG, NOVEMBER 20
The winter session of the Meghalaya assembly, starting Friday, is set to be stormy with the combined opposition Meghalaya People’s Front (MPF) planning to put the ruling Congress-led government on the mat.
“We will be raising a number of issues to nail the government on criminalisation of politics, and total collapse of governance which led to deaths of civilians and security forces besides infiltration of militants into Meghalaya,” an MPF spokesman told IANS Thursday.
The opposition parties have decided to raise the issue of criminalisation of politics after Congress minister Deborah Marak was charge sheeted by police for hatching a criminal conspiracy with the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA), a terrorist outfit, in order to win the February 2013 assembly elections.
In fact, the opposition Meghalaya People’s Front -- comprising eight United Democratic Party legislators, two from the National People’s Party and two Independents -- has been demanding that the government institute a CBI or NIA inquiry to probe into the cases of politicians hobnobbing with militants.
Apart from the politico-militants nexus, Lyngdoh said the opposition parties are geared up to raise the issue of the education scam after the CBI implicated Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh in the illegal appointment of school teachers by tampering with mark sheets of eligible candidates.
“This (education scam) is another serious issue which the government is turning a blind eye to in taking action against the minister and, therefore, the opposition has decided to take up the issue in the winter session,” the MPF spokesman said.
Lyngdoh said the opposition parties would also seek from the government the status report on the “memorandum of settlement” signed between the central and Meghalaya governments with the two factions of the A’chik National Volunteers Council (ANVC), a Garo rebel outfit, Sep 24 in New Delhi.
Moreover, they also planned to move a resolution to include Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the constitution of India, enrolment of doubtful citizens into the electoral rolls of the state besides other issues.
Meanwhile, members of the ruling Congress party, which met Wednesday night at Chief Minister Mukul Sangma’s residence, is ready to face the issues to be raise by the opposition parties.
In the 60-member legislature, the Congress is the single largest party with 29 seats - two short of majority. The Nationalist Congress Party, which has two seats, and 11 Independent legislators are extending support to the Congress.
