SHILLONG, Jan 22: The Voice of People’s Party (VPP) has temporarily suspended its sit-in-demonstration for demanding reinstatement of the removed Lokayukta officials after the assurance of the state government to hold a meeting with the leaders of the party.
The decision was taken after the minister in-charge Law Ampareen Lyngdoh invited the legislators of the VPP for talks in her chamber and informed that chief minister Conrad K Sangma will be meeting them within a day or two.
“Since there will be a meeting between the party and the chief minister along with high officials (of the government), we feel it would be appropriate on our part to keep this agitation in abeyance,” VPP chief and Nongkrem legislator Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit told reporters after the meeting with Lyngdoh.
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He said, “We know for sure that the law minister cannot give any decision and we cannot arrive at any logical conclusion but we want to convey a clear message that as a party we don’t want to create any trouble as our decision to hit the streets is not to create troubles but we have a valid reason that when the government unceremoniously removed and terminated the services of those three officers, we feel it is our duty to take up the matter and we are not convinced with the clarification of the government that whatever the government has done is because the appointment of those officials is against the law. So we question the government as to how it overlooks such a section which is too glaring in the act.”
“We have clearly told the Law minister to convey all these pertinent points to the chief minister so that in the next meeting we can sit and solve the matter once and for all,” he added.
Basaiawmoit however maintained that the agitation will resume if the government fails to justify its decision to remove the Lokayukta officials.
He alleged that the terminated officials of the Lokayukta were investigating a corruption case involving a relative of the chief minister.
Asserting the need to further strengthen the Meghalaya Lokayukta Act, Basaiawmoit said, “Stop interfering with the functioning of the Lokayukta so that you will witness many, who will get arrested and put behind bars due to corrupt practices.” (NNN)
