Shillong, October 6: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Tuesday dismissed speculation that the NPP would seek to remove the BJP from the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) or that the BJP was attempting to weaken the ruling party to form its own government.
Sangma also clarified that there had been no discussions or plans to induct the eight MLAs who recently joined the BJP into the state Cabinet.
Rejecting the speculation as baseless, the Chief Minister said the NPP remained committed to its coalition partners despite having an outright majority of 33 MLAs in the Meghalaya Assembly.
He said the NPP could have dropped its allies during the last Cabinet reshuffle had it wanted to, but chose instead to uphold the principles on which the coalition was formed, particularly the commitment to work together.
“The number of MLAs may change, and representation in the Cabinet may increase or decrease. But the spirit of cooperation remains. Having more MLAs does not mean we should forget our allies,” Sangma said.
The Chief Minister said he had spoken to leaders of all MDA constituent parties and that they had reaffirmed their commitment to the alliance.
While some coalition partners had expressed concerns over internal difficulties following the movement of MLAs between parties, Sangma maintained that the developments had not affected cooperation within the MDA.
Asked whether the eight former UDP legislators who recently joined the BJP would be given ministerial positions, Sangma said there had been no discussion on the matter.
“There have been no discussions on this, and there is no plan to induct any of these eight MLAs into the Cabinet,” he said.
Sangma said the movement of the legislators did not amount to a loss of confidence in the MDA since both the UDP and BJP continue to be part of the ruling alliance.
He said questions over the stability of the coalition could arise if legislators moved to a party outside the alliance or joined the Opposition. In the present case, however, the shift was between two parties that are both members of the MDA.
The Chief Minister declined to comment on the internal affairs of other political parties.
