Shillong, September 25: Cabinet Minister and Amlarem legislator Lahkmen Rymbui on Friday downplayed speculation over demands for ministerial berths following the merger of eight former UDP legislators with the BJP, asserting that issues concerning the community were more important than positions of power.
The eight legislators were formally welcomed and felicitated by BJP state president Rikman G. Momin and BJP Legislature Party leader and Cabinet Minister Sanbor Shullai at the party’s new office after submitting their merger letter to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
Asked whether ministerial berths were part of the arrangement for joining the BJP, Rymbui said he was unaware of any such demand. “This demand for chair, whether it is there or not, is not in my knowledge. The central leadership may know, I cannot say,” he told reporters.
Rymbui, however, maintained that the legislators’ decision to join the BJP was not driven by the pursuit of positions. “What we have put forward is that the chair cannot be compared with the issues of the community. We have to think about that. It is not easy. We have to see what we put forward,” he said.
He said the group had left the UDP peacefully and without ill will, with the intention of pursuing long-pending issues and aspirations of the state. “We left our old party with a peaceful mind, without any ill will because, as leaders, what we need is protection and development,” Rymbui said.
According to him, the delegation raised several key issues with the BJP central leadership in New Delhi, including the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, Inner Line Permit (ILP), amendment of the Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act (MRSSA), relocation of residents from Them Iew Mawlong and simplification of coal-mining regulations.
Rymbui said they also raised the issue of minority recognition for followers of indigenous faiths such as Niam Khasi and Niam Tre. “We have spoken clearly in front of the central leaders about what is the aspiration of our people, for the state and for the residents,” he said.
On the response from the BJP central leadership, Rymbui said the group had received positive assurances on the issues raised. “I have raised these issues both in Khasi and English, and the response of the central leadership is that they have a positive response on all these issues,” he said.
Rymbui added that he did not want to elaborate further on the assurances, saying they had come from the central leadership. “We are people who have a positive mindset. Let us be positive,” he said.
