Correspondent
SHILLONG, NOV 5 (IANS): Meghalaya Minister and BJP Legislature Party leader Sanbor Shullai has expressed strong dissatisfaction over the recent cabinet reshuffle and portfolio allocation, arguing that the National People’s Party (NPP) failed to accord the saffron party its due political weight.
Shullai contended that the BJP, the second-largest ally within the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) with 10 legislators in the 60-member Assembly, deserved additional cabinet berths.
The BJP Minister said that the party had taken up the issue with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma following the resignation of former United Democratic Party president and minister Metbah Lyngdoh.
Stating that the BJP have no objection to any NPP MLA being inducted into the Cabinet, Shullai, however said that the BJP with a status of the second largest party should also have been accommodated while deciding ministerial representation and portfolio allocation.
He reminded that the BJP has always stood by the NPP even during its crisis period in 2023 when all political parties wanted to form a non NPP coalition government.
He said the NPP-led MDA government is getting all the necessary help and support from the BJP at the centre, and the central leaders, but the marginalisation of state BJP legislators by NPP leaders is “not a healthy indication”.
“The BJP legislators met the party’s northeast co-incharge Rajiv Babber and apprised him about the latest and ongoing political developments with a focus on how the BJP was being sidelined and ignored in the latest cabinet berth reshuffle and portfolio allotment by the NPP,” Shullai said.
Describing the developments as a “matter of concern,” Shullai warned that the perceived sidelining of BJP legislators could harm cooperation within the alliance, stressing that the issue centers on mutual respect and better coordination rather than just ministerial berths.
He said the matter would soon be taken up with the party’s central leadership before any final decision was made. Shullai also said he had already met the Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and both Deputy Chief Ministers Prestone Tynsong and Sniawbhalang Dhar on the party’s instruction and sought a meeting with all BJP legislators to resolve the issue amicably.