The general secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rituraj Sinha, today poured cold water on the demand for implementation of the Inner Line Permit in Meghalaya.
Speaking to reporters, Sinha said that the state’s development has to be driven by tourism and for tourism and ILP is restrictive and could result in significant opportunity loss for the sector.
However, the party will still discuss the issue with all stakeholders after the election on February 27 and he hoped the BJP will “be in a position in the Assembly to have enough numbers to have a thorough debate and then take a final, formal view on the ILP matter.”
The Assembly passed a unanimous resolution in December 2019 in favour of ILP during the height of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act agitations in the state. The resolution was also supported by the state BJP.
However, the passage of the resolution entered a dead end as it is only the central government that can implement ILP in Meghalaya and there was no movement on the subject for the past three years, despite political parties and pressure groups continuing to push for it.
When asked about the resolution representing the will of the people, Sinha maintained that the party wants to make policy decisions that are good for the welfare of the public. There is good rationale for and against ILP, the BJP official said, and it needs to be deliberated after the elections.
