SHILLONG : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has dismissed two major political rumours doing the rounds in the state — that the NPP plans to remove the BJP from the MDA-II government and that the BJP is attempting to break the NPP and form its own government in Meghalaya.
“Both these rumours are completely and absolutely incorrect,” Sangma asserted.
The Chief Minister said the NPP has 33 MLAs on its own, giving it a majority in the Assembly, but maintained that the party has chosen to continue working with its coalition partners.
Sangma said that if the NPP had wanted to drop its coalition partners, it could have done so during the last Cabinet reshuffle.
“The NPP had got absolute majority with 33 MLAs and if so desired it would have dropped its coalition partners during the last cabinet reshuffle. But as a coalition and even as a political party we are very clear on the principles that we have built this coalition and one of those principles is to ensure we work together,” he said.
He said the MDA’s approach was to stand by its coalition partners in both favourable and difficult circumstances.
According to Sangma, changes in the numbers of MLAs or Cabinet participation do not alter the coalition’s broader commitment to working together.
“The numbers may change here and there, the participation in the cabinet may decrease up and down, but the spirit of working together and not just leaving our coalition partners simply because we have adequate numbers – that is not part of the way we deal with politics,” he said.
Sangma also said he had spoken with the leadership of the coalition partners and that they had recommitted themselves to the alliance.
He acknowledged that there were internal issues within coalition parties, which had resulted in some MLAs moving from one coalition partner to another.
“I have been speaking to the leadership of all coalition partners and from the coalition politics point of view they have all agreed and recommitted themselves to the coalition,” he said.
No Plan to Induct 8 BJP MLAs as Ministers
On whether the government would carry out another Cabinet reshuffle to accommodate the eight MLAs who recently joined the BJP, Sangma said there had been no discussion on the matter.
“There has been no discussion on this line and there is no particular intention to induct any minister from the MLAs who had recently joined the BJP,” he clarified.
He said there had been no such discussion either before or after the eight MLAs joined the BJP.
Sangma Says MLA Shift Does Not Affect Coalition Stability
Sangma also rejected suggestions that the movement of eight UDP MLAs to the BJP indicated distress within the coalition.
He said the situation would have been different if the MLAs had moved to an opposition party outside the coalition.
“Absolutely not,” Sangma said, arguing that the MLAs had moved from one coalition partner to another coalition partner.
He maintained that the movement therefore did not indicate mistrust among the coalition partners.
The Chief Minister said that from the perspective of the coalition and governance, there had been no impact, although the political dynamics in individual constituencies could change following the movement of MLAs.