Shillong, July 11: The major coalition partner of the ruling Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), today asked chief minister Donkupar Roy to scrap the power deal with private companies.

The demand assumes significance in the context of various NGOs, including the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) and the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) threatening to launch an agitation if the deal was not scrapped. There was also growing public criticism that the coalition partners in the government were not keeping their promise made during the election campaign that the power deal would be scrapped once they were elected.

The state president of NCP, W.R. Kharlukhi, along with power minister Conrad Sangma, who is also from the NCP, met the chief minister today and urged him to scrap the power deal.

“After consulting senior party leaders, we suggest that the MPA scrap the controversial power deal,” said the letter handed over by the NCP to the chief minister.

Kharlukhi said the party’s demand was based on the commitment made by the party to the people of Meghalaya during the elections.

Statement opposed

The Arunachal PCC today reacted strongly against Assam Governor Shiv Charan Mathur’s statement expressing his reservation against large dams in the region, especially in Arunachal Pradesh, reports our correspondent from Itanagar.

The committee termed the statement as “unfortunate” and “misleading”.

Arunachal PCC general secretary T.C. Tok said in a statement today that if the Assam governor had found anything objectionable with the mega dams in Arunachal Pradesh, he should have taken up the matter with the state government without going public first.

“This type of hurried comments can create ill-feelings between the people of the two neighbouring states. The governor’s remark that hydro-power projects in the Northeast and Arunachal Pradesh can have a telling effect on the environment of the region, only indicates that he is against the development of the people of the Northeast.”