CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: Opposition TMC MLA from Dadenggre constituency Rupa M. Marak has torn into Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, accusing him of systematically sidelining opposition legislators from government programmes while simultaneously blaming them for the lack of development. Delivering an unflinching rebuttal to the Chief Minister’s recent remarks—where he alleged that constituencies held by opposition MLAs showed poor development because their representatives “prefer fake narratives over real issues”—Marak said the Chief Minister’s claims were “contradictory, misleading and unacceptable,” asserting that the government itself had repeatedly blocked opposition MLAs’ participation in official events in their own constituency.
Marak said this was not a party event where political rivalry is expected but “a government programme in which the local MLA should be a part of it.” He hit out at the ruling dispensation, calling it “unwilling” to involve opposition MLAs and accusing the administration of denying him even basic courtesy: information and invitations to state-led developmental activities within Dadenggre.
The MLA recounted multiple instances where he was allegedly excluded from official programmes. He claimed that once he even had to gatecrash his own constituency programme, as he said he was never invited to a government event held right under his nose. The scene played out during the MoU signing ceremony between AAI and the Government of Meghalaya—an event that should ordinarily have featured the local MLA as a key stakeholder, but instead became a stage for what the legislator described as a pattern of deliberate sidelining.
The MLA voiced deep frustration at what he described as a pattern of deliberate political humiliation. “I am doing this today because of the disappointment I have. I am very, very disappointed at the way I am being treated. Yesterday there was an inaugural programme under my constituency in Jengjal. The new Jengjal police station building was inaugurated yesterday, but I wasn’t informed. As a local MLA, I should have been invited or informed regarding that. But no invitation, no information came from the administration or the government. I wasn’t there for that very reason. I am very, very disappointed at the way I am being treated like that.”
He said the repeated sidelining could not be dismissed as an oversight. “This is not the first time that I am being treated like this. During the foundation stone-laying ceremony for Ringgi Bridge, I wasn’t invited. The former MLA of Dadenggre James Sangma was there as Chief Guest, but the local MLA was not there. Some people even called me and asked why I was not there, because I wasn’t invited. I wasn’t informed actually, and yesterday it also happened. During that MoU signing ceremony between AAI and the Government of Meghalaya, in that programme too I wasn’t invited. I wasn’t invited at all, but thanks to some of my friends who sent me the programme the evening before, I went there in the morning and was present. Seeing me there, though I was not included in the programme, our Chief Minister asked me to say something. They had to make this adjustment to let me speak. So this is not the first time I’m being treated like that.”
He questioned whether his vocal interventions in the Assembly were the reason for the government’s behaviour. “Why am I being treated like that? I don’t know. Is it because I am raising my voice for my people in the Assembly? I am raising issues very extensively for my constituency. As a responsible representative, I should do that. That is my duty, which is my responsibility to raise my voice and speak up for my people.”
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