VPP Flexes Political Muscle With Massive March to Meghalaya Secretariat

CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: Thousands of people took to the streets of Shillong on Thursday as the Voice of the People’s Party (VPP) organised its much-anticipated “March to Secretariat”, mounting a major show of political strength against the Meghalaya Government over what it described as anti-tribal policies, rising unemployment, environmental concerns and a host of unresolved public issues. The demonstration, one of the largest organised by the Opposition party in recent months, came ahead of the Autumn Session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, signalling an escalation of the VPP’s political campaign against the ruling National People’s Party (NPP)-led Government.

Supporters from different parts of the State capital converged near the Meghalaya Secretariat amid heavy security deployment before marching around the Secretariat, raising anti-government slogans and later assembling outside the Additional Secretariat. Led by VPP president Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit, the march sought to convey public dissatisfaction over the Government’s functioning and its alleged failure to address repeated demands raised by the Opposition.

Addressing media persons after the rally, Basaiawmoit said the party had been compelled to take to the streets after its concerns were repeatedly ignored by the Government.

“Why do we have to hit the streets? Repeatedly, we have been denied and repeatedly ignored by the Government when we raised issues,” he said.

Describing the march as a success, Basaiawmoit said the spontaneous turnout reflected growing public support for the party. “Who can raise such a huge crowd spontaneously without spending a single paisa? Shall I not be happy? Shall I not be satisfied? We believe the message has been conveyed,” he said.

He said the peaceful march was intended to communicate public resentment over the Government’s handling of several key issues and reiterated that the party would not submit any fresh memorandum, arguing that previous representations had gone unanswered.

“We are happy to see the response from the people as far as the peaceful march is concerned. We conducted this peaceful march to convey a message to the Government that we are not happy with its style of functioning on many issues. Those issues have been highlighted from time to time. We will wait for some time to see what the response of the Government will be. We have decided as a party not to submit any memorandum to the Government because every time we have written to the Government on many issues, it is unfortunate that the Government has never responded to us in writing or called us for discussion. We do not feel the need to submit a fresh memorandum or petition to the Government on these issues, of which the Government itself is aware,” the VPP chief said.

He said the scale of participation was remarkable, particularly as the rally was held on a working day. “The crowd is huge and spontaneous, especially on a working day like this,” he said.

Basaiawmoit also questioned the functioning of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, alleging that Opposition legislators were not given adequate time to debate issues affecting the public, while members of the ruling party were allotted more time during discussions.

“Limited time is allotted to Opposition members during the Assembly, while members belonging to the ruling party get more time. We hardly get enough time to discuss various issues. We are not shying away from debate; we present facts before the Government,” he said.

The Autumn Session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly is scheduled to commence on August 24.

Basaiawmoit said the VPP had identified several issues to be raised during the session but expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which Assembly proceedings were conducted.

“Definitely, I have listed many issues that will be taken up in the Assembly, but as you are aware, time is limited inside the Assembly. The way they conduct the Assembly is not encouraging. It is not acceptable to us because we have even been denied the chance to raise important issues on the floor of the House,” he added. The march concluded peacefully under tight security, with the VPP asserting that the unprecedented public participation had sent a strong political message to the Government ahead of the forthcoming Assembly session.

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