Shillong, Mar 8: The Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) has alleged that the MDA government’s withdrawal of consent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is to shield some of its members as it cited that senior members of the present Government are from time to time alleged to be hand in gloves with illegal activities such as the extraction and transportation of coal in the state which is in gross violation of the NGT order.

“The VPP is of the view that this decision of the Government to prevent CBI from conducting investigation in the State is either to shield some of its members at the helm of affairs or due to some other reasons understood only by those who are playing dirty games at the cost of others,” VPP general secretary Dr Ricky A J Syngkon said in a statement here on Tuesday.

Stating that there was no clear reason given behind the withdrawal of consent for CBI investigation by the government in the state, Syngkon said what is even more puzzling is that the present ruling combination in Meghalaya is part and parcel of the NDA Government at the centre.

Except for Mizoram, he said the seven other states who have currently withdrawn consent for CBI investigation are opposition ruled states which fear that the Centre could misuse Central agencies like the ED and the CBI to target the opposition leaders and gain political mileage out of it.

He further stated that the decision of the Government of Meghalaya led by NPP, a partner of NDA, not to grant consent to CBI to conduct any probe or investigation within the territory of the state is indeed a serious issue.

“The decision is sending a message to the people of the state that there is something hidden and that the government does not want to bring to light all the wrongs while working on an alibi or maybe the CBI which is a ‘premier investigating agency of India’ with a high conviction rate of 70.8% in 2010, 67% in 2011 and 69.83% in 2020 is not competent enough to handle the illegal case/s that are so ingrained in our state,” he added.