Dhar Slams VPP for Skipping All-Party Meet on Reservation Policy

Questioning the seriousness of the opposition Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) over the long-debated State Reservation Policy, Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Snaiwbhalang Dhar on Friday launched a sharp attack on the party for abstaining from the all-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma to deliberate on the expert committee’s report on the reservation system.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday chaired an all-party meeting to deliberate on the expert committee’s report on the State Reservation Policy. Representatives of several political parties attended and placed their views and suggestions, while the Opposition Voice of the People Party did not participate in the meeting.
The consultation was held following the tabling of the committee’s report in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly earlier this year, after which the government indicated it would seek wider political inputs before moving ahead. The meeting was convened following persistent demands from opposition parties, particularly the VPP, for broader political consultations on the reservation policy and concerns surrounding representation and review mechanisms.
However, the absence of the VPP from the discussions drew criticism from the ruling coalition, with Dhar accusing the party of indulging in “politics” rather than demonstrating genuine commitment to the matter.
“It seems they (VPP) are just saying politics, they are not serious about the issue. We are very very unfortunate to see that Voice of the people’s party did not attend the meeting, which has been the extremely demanded by them to call for all party meeting,” Dhar said.
He further asserted that the State government had acted upon the opposition’s demand by convening the meeting and ensuring the participation of political stakeholders across party lines.
“Atleast the Chief Minister has called All Party meeting to discuss about the state reservation policy as requested by the opposition parties specially VPP and we have done it, we called the meeting and all the political parties attended except VPP which shows they are not serious,” he added.