SHILLONG, SEPT 23: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday ruled out any threat to the NPP-led MDA government following the joining of eight UDP MLAs to the BJP and said the saffron party has not sought additional cabinet berths.
The BJP’s strength in the 60-member Assembly has gone up to 10 after eight UDP MLAs joined the party in New Delhi on Wednesday, making it the second largest constituent in the MDA after the NPP.
“It is a decision between two political parties, it is the decision of the respective MLAs. It has nothing to do with the NPP as such. Therefore, it is really the desire and the decision of the MLAs, so I have no comment on their decision,” Sangma told reporters.
Asserting that the coalition’s strength remains intact, the Chief Minister said, “The strength of the coalition remains the same because it is very much within the coalition, so therefore it does not disturb the overall functioning of our government. And even if that was the case, as you are all aware, we have a simple majority in the House and therefore we are quite confident that everything will be as usual.”
“But of course, there will be some concerns between the two political parties because MLAs from one party have left and joined another political party. So that they will have to figure out. On that aspect of their joining and why they joined and what is the purpose, that is something I cannot comment on,” he added.
Asked if there will be a cabinet reshuffle, Sangma said, “I have already made it very clear, this will not affect anything.”
On whether the BJP has demanded more cabinet seats, he said, “No, they have not asked anything.”
Ruling out any threat to his leadership due to BJP’s expansion in the state, Sangma said, “No, there is no threat as of now. Every political party has the desire to grow and in a democracy and in politics, every party will aspire. We aspire to grow in different states. We have been working in Manipur and other states. It is a natural process, so it’s fine. We have to work towards ensuring that we keep our base strong.”
“We have to keep ensuring that in this whole situation we can play our part to maybe increase the number of seats that we have. So many elections come, I was always very clear to all of you that we always fight on our own terms, as our own identity and that will continue in the future,” he added.
By Our Reporter
