SHILLONG, JAN 8: The National People’s Party (NPP) is likely to take a call on whether to severe ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following the passing of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha amid widespread protests in the North East states.
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, NPP national president and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma said he would call a party meeting and accordingly take a call on the matter.
Asked whether the NPP would snap ties with the BJP, Sangma said, “We will see about that we will discuss. As I said I will call the party leaders as you are aware our party is present in almost five states in the North East. Therefore I will need to call all the party leaders and take a call on this.”
Terming the decision of the Union government as unfortunate, the chief minister said the Bill is something which the six-party Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government led by the NPP have opposed vehemently.
“We (MDA) have also passed a resolution in the Cabinet that we will oppose any kind of implementation of this Bill,” he said.
The BJP in Meghalaya was also part of the cabinet decision to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) in Assam had on Monday also decided to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The North East protest called by the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) also evoked positive response in the state on Tuesday.
By Our Reporter
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