National People’s Party supremo and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday said the party will continue to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
“Meghalaya was the first State to oppose the Bill and raise objection. We took the initiative to unite different political parties of the Northeast and made our voice heard in Delhi and ensured that the Bill was not introduced in Rajya Sabha,” Mr. Sangma said while campaigning for the party candidate in the Lok Sabha poll in Tura constituency.
He claimed that the NPP is the only party that can unite the voice of the region and make it heard in Delhi.
Mr. Sangma asked the people to vote for his party as “NPP is the party of the Northeast.”
Three rallies
The NPP chief on Monday flew to three different locations in the North Garo Hills and the East Garo Hills (Rongrong Abema, Mangsang and Chibonga) to campaign for his sister Agatha, the NPP candidate for the Tura Lok Sabha seat.
Former CM Mukul Sangma is the Congress candidate for the seat while the BJP has fielded Rikman G. Momin.
‘Wrong notion ’
The NPP chief alleged that the Congress is propagating a wrong notion that his party will partner with the BJP and ensure that the Bill is passed in the Lok Sabha.
He added, “We will remain true to our commitment to the people of the Northeast and will never allow any Bill that would hamper the interest of our people.”
Mr. Sangma also claimed that the NPP has “fulfilled” its promise made in the 2018 election with education as its top priority.
“We had promised an education policy and we brought out the policy well before the completion of one year. For over four decades, the education department had to work without any policy or direction, we have scripted a direction to move forward to ensure better educational facilities in Meghalaya,” he said.
The NPP chief said that based on the education policy, the Meghalaya government approached the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and was accorded 11 Eklavya Residential Model Schools, out of 50 such schools across India.
He said that if Ms. Agatha was elected as an MP, she will add to the initiative started by the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government and will voice its concerns in the Parliament.