The Leader of Opposition (LO) and former chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma has urged the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government to exercise caution during border talks with the government of Assam.
Pointing out that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has already stated that Assam has its own interpretation of the present situation, Dr Sangma said, “This means that they will try to deviate from the stand of Meghalaya.”
Because of this, Dr. Sangma said that the Meghalaya-Assam border talks should be based on the documentations prepared by the government on the 12 areas of difference which substantiate the claims that these places belong to Meghalaya.
According to him, the documentation prepared by Meghalaya should form the basis of all discussions with Assam.
Meanwhile, Dr. Sangma also alleged that the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government is not implementing the Inter State Border Area Development Programme.
“This shows that the present government is bankrupt in understanding problems of villagers living along the border with Assam,” he said.
Alleging that the state government has abandoned the border villagers, Dr. Sangma said that schemes under Inter State Border Area Development Programme initiated by the previous Congress led government have diverted elsewhere.
It may be noted here that the second round of Chief Minister’s level meeting between Meghalaya and Assam will be held on August 6 at Guwahati.
