Shillong, Dec 16: United Democratic Party (UDP) leader and cabinet minister Lahkmen Rymbui has termed the absence of opposition parties – Congress and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) – from the meeting on interstate boundary dispute with Assam as a ‘letdown for the people of the state’, who are expectant of a speedy resolution on the long pending boundary dispute.

Slamming the leaders of the opposition parties he said it is duty and responsibility of the leaders irrespective of political affiliations to attend and express their opinion. It does not matter whether the opinion is right or wrong or in consonance with the thought of the government, that is a different issue altogether, he said.

Stressing that this is the first time there is a ray of hope that the issue could be resolved, he said, “A start could be made and we may be able to settle this dispute so that our fellow sisters and brothers living in the border area could live peacefully and do their normal duty without any disturbances.”

None of the opposition MLAs from the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) or the Congress turned up for the meeting convened by the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma for taking the views and opinions of all stakeholders on the border issue on Wednesday.

Rymbui also alleged that there seems to be confusion among the opposition MLAs as to which is the real Congress and which is the real opposition.

“May be there is still a confusion so they cannot think nicely because the Congress also may be they thought that those who went away are still in Congress and those who went away also they are thinking they are still in Congress so the confusion may be there that is why they didn’t attend the meeting,” he said.

Previous Govt took Assam – Meghalaya issue as “adhoc issue”

The UDP leader further alleged that the previous government had taken the boundary dispute with Assam just as an “adhoc issue” and “status quo issue”.

“For many they take it just as an election issue and they want to keep it alive for their own election interest without taking into consideration the interest of the state,” he said.
He however said that for the MDA government, its top priority is to ensure the concern and the interest of people should be taken care of.

“That is why I said from the beginning both the chief ministers of Assam and Meghalaya are taking up the issue with an open mind and with a positive mindset to resolve the issue at the earliest,” he added.