Leader of Opposition in Meghalaya Assembly, Dr Mukul Sangma on Monday lambasted the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) and asked them several questions on the issue related to the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
The former Meghalaya chief minister in a statement issued here on Monday evening, said that he was amused by the narrative circulated by the UDP and other parties and said that they are hand in glove with the conspirators, the BJP.
“Their attempt is to impress our people that they are the messiah and the protectors of our indigenous people through their well orchestrated bluff. They have been given coaching by the conspirators themselves (the BJP),” Sangma said while posing several questions on the Citizenship Amendment Bill.
He said that the CAB has been discussed by the manifesto committee of the party and the final discussion was also held in a meeting with Congress president, Rahul Gandhi and the party will include the CAB in its manifesto wherein it will be indicated with complete clarity that the Congress will stop further consideration of CAB and defend the people of the North east.
He informed that the Congress president will address a Congress rally at Guwahati on Tuesday on the invitation of the North East Congress Coordination Committee.
“He will declare the commitment of the Congress under his leadership, to stop further consideration of the CAB,” Sangma said.
With the BJP’s determination to bring back the bill, Sangma asked, “will the NPP or the UDP be capable of stopping Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and the BJP? How many MPs do the NPP and the UDP have in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha respectively?”
“Is it not a fact that the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha by the BJP and its allies including chief minister, Conrad Sangma (when he was the MP) on July 19, 2016? Is it not a fact that the BJP-led NEDA had discussed this bill in its meeting on June 24, 2016? Is it not a fact that the NPP and UDP were partners in plotting to strengthen the BJP and demolish Congress governments so that the BJP can rule us like dictator? Is it not a fact that the NPP and the UDP were in deep slumber and woke up suddenly only when the people of the Northeast came to the streets to stop the CAB from becoming an Act?” Sangma asked.
Stating that the BJP-led NDA government bulldozed the CAB in the Lok Sabha inspite of strong protests from the whole North Eastern states, Sangma again asked, “is it not a fact that both NPP and UDP continued to remain with the BJP-led NEDA and are still in the government with the BJP? Is it not a fact that NPP and other regional parties along with the chief minister (Conrad) engaged in drama and took a delegation not once but twice to tell the world that they are garnering support to convince the BJP and their allies not to pass the CAB in the Rajya Sabha and never was given an audience by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi?”
He said that the Congress and other allies ensured that the CAB was not included in the list of business of the Rajya Sabha in the last session but Conrad Sangma shamelessly took credit only to get a slap in the face as the NDA government managed to use the Rajya Sabha chairman, Venkaiah Naidu to add as additional list of bills to be considered during the session.
He said that the Congress had issued a whip to all its MPs in Rajya Sabha to vote against the CAB and defeat the bill.
“Is it not a fact that the chief minister, Conrad Sangma was quick in taking credit to fool the people only to be again slapped in the face as the BJP president, Amit Shah in their party rally, reiterated their determination to bring back the CAB if voted back to power again in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections?” Sangma asked.
On the contrary, Sangma asked, is it not a fact that the NPP help the BJP to increase their strength in the Rajya Sabha by electing one more BJP MP (Rajya Sabha) from Manipur in 2017? Is it the way for NPP and UDP to stop the BJP when they themselves are helping BJP to increase their MPs in Rajya Sabha?”
“If it is not for the Congress-led alliance to stop the BJP, can mushrooming party like the NPP and the UDP stop the BJP from going ahead with their determination to bring back the CAB? Is it not a fact that the Congress has always stood by the vulnerable communities like ours, the indigenous ethnic communities and brought number of laws to protect us? Is it not a fact that the Congress has declared its commitment to stop further consideration of infamous Citizenship Amendment Bill and defeat the BJP agenda?” the Leader of Opposition said.