Leaders of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) led by vice president Dr. Kara Chen today walked out of the all-parties meeting convened by the MDA government after their plea for a discussion on the reservation policy was rejected.
Similarly, the KHNAM delegation also walked out of the meeting on similar ground.
Both VPP and KHNAM had said that discussing only the roster system without touching on the reservation policy would not lead to any solution to the problems arising out of the issue.
Speaking to media persons, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma admitted that during the meeting, there were also certain political parties that have asked and stressed to discuss the reservation policy apart from the roster system.
“We made it very clear to them that this discussion that we are having today is on the roster system and the reason the word reservation is there is because it is the roster on the reservation and hence, the discussion was limited only to the roster system and not beyond that,” Sangma said.
He also said that most of the political parties have expressed that they are satisfied with the discussion on the roster after a detailed presentation was given by the government.
The parties that agreed with the stand of the government included MDA allies composed of NPP, UDP, HSPDP and BJP. Similarly, two opposition parties – Congress and Trinamool Congress also supported the government on the issue.