National People’s Party (NPP) national president and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Monday said Rajya Sabha nominee James P.K. Sangma would aggressively pursue Meghalaya’s long-pending demands, including implementation of the Inner Line Permit (ILP), the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), measures to tackle illegal immigration, amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), strengthening of Sixth Schedule provisions and the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, after being elected to Parliament. With the NPP having no representation in the Lok Sabha, James Sangma is set to become the party’s lone voice in Parliament and a crucial link between the State Government and the Centre.
Outlining the expectations from the party’s prospective Rajya Sabha member, Conrad K. Sangma said the Upper House MP would be entrusted with raising issues of critical importance to Meghalaya while actively participating in legislative debates and discussions. He said the MP would also play an important role in facilitating coordination between the State Government and the Centre by taking up matters concerning Meghalaya with various Union ministries.
“For us when it comes to issues there are multiple issues that’s we feel the member of parliament should bring up and I am sure James Sangma will very successfully able to bring up those issues,” Sangma said.
The Chief Minister said the scope of responsibilities would extend beyond political issues to include social concerns, developmental priorities, implementation of government schemes and active engagement in parliamentary proceedings. He expressed confidence that James Sangma would effectively articulate the aspirations and concerns of the people of Meghalaya in Parliament.
“Issues will range from everything which are socially political important to our people and our state,” the NPP chief said.
Referring to the four-point memorandum recently submitted by the State Government to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Conrad K. Sangma said the demands raised by Meghalaya remained among the government’s top priorities. These included the inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule, strengthening of the Sixth Schedule, amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, tackling illegal immigration, implementation of the Inner Line Permit and enforcement of the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act.
“All of this issues are very, very important to us,” the CM said.
He said the State Government and the NPP had consistently pursued these issues and would continue to do so aggressively at every available opportunity. According to him, the Rajya Sabha member would have a critical responsibility in advancing these concerns before Parliament and the Government of India, while ensuring that Meghalaya’s interests received sustained attention at the national level.
Speaking on the Rajya Sabha election, the NPP chief said the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) had unanimously backed the candidature of James P.K. Sangma and expressed confidence that the ruling coalition possessed the necessary numbers to secure victory even in the event of a contest.
“I would like to congratulate James PK Sangma for filing is nomination and would like to thank all the partners of the MDA for having unanimously and with the consensus supported the candidature of James Sangma and representatives of most of the partners were present in filing of nomination. Even if there is a candidature, MDA has necessary strength to ensure that our candidate wins Rajya Sabha election,” Conrad K. Sangma said.
Asked about the absence of outgoing Rajya Sabha MP W.R. Kharlukhi during the nomination filing process, NPP National President Conrad K. Sangma dismissed reports of any differences and said everybody had their own programmes.
