Incumbent Mylliem MLA Hamletson Dohling, who formally joined the National People’s Party (NPP) today, hailed the leadership of Chief Minister and his new party boss Conrad K Sangma for taking the initiative on the Inner Line Permit (ILP) and Eighth Schedule.
Dohling, a first-time MLA, resigned from the Assembly this past week in order to switch from the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) to the NPP.
As a stepping stone into politics, Dohling, like many before him, cut his teeth in a pressure group, namely the Khasi Students Union (KSU).
Speaking at an NPP gathering at Umlyngka, Dohling said that the ILP issue and that of inclusion of the Khasi language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution were never discussed in the cabinet before the reign of Sangma.
“And I’m proud as a former leader of the KSU and via the people of Mylliem who chose me I was able to discuss these issues in the cabinet and no longer in the street,” he added, while stating that he received an assurance from the CM before joining the party that there will be no uranium mining in the state.
Along with Dohling, former PDF leaders Emlang Lytan, Ivanlumlang Marbaniang and a few others also joined the NPP today.
Sangma welcomed them into the fold and spoke about the arduous task of providing good governance despite all the challenges, such as law and order disturbances and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“But still we moved forward and the government survived and delivered a large number of promises that we had made,” Sangma said.
Dohling expressed a hope that the people vote the NPP back to power so that it can move further on the issues of ILP and the border dispute resolution.
