Shillong, April 24: Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) chief Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit today reached out to his electorate as he kickstarted his campaign for next year's Assembly elections from his home constituency, Nongkrem, and exuded confidence that his party would be in power in 2018.
"Our party has not had the chance to lead a government in the state. But in 2018, we will no doubt be in the government, and you will see actions and policies that bring hope to the people," Basaiawmoit told thousands of his supporters, who gathered amid inclement weather at Lad Nongkrem, about 20km from here.
Basawiawmoit has represented Nongkrem constituency since 2008 and became the president of the HSPDP, the oldest regional party in Meghalaya, after the demise of its long-time president, Hoping Stone Lyngdoh, in 2015.
Basaiawmoit said before taking issues to the people in other places, he felt it was right to first enlighten the people in his home constituency.
He clarified the aspersions cast on him by opponents on certain issues, such as law on compulsory registration of marriage, building bylaws and using his father's surname in a matrilineal state.
Basaiawmoit said registration of marriage was required to ensure that women abandoned by their husbands get maintenance so that the children can be given proper care and the law would help reduce the burden being faced by single mothers.
On the implementation of building bylaws, Basaiawmoit urged the people not to be misguided since he, along with the people, had in August, 2015, fought for its withdrawal from rural areas, which led to the confinement of the building bylaws to 50 square km out of 174 square km under the Shillong masterplan area.
Basaiawmoit said the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) kept implementing the building bylaw, following a ruling passed by the Meghalaya High Court on December 16, 2015.
On the allegation that the HSPDP chief wanted children to take the surname from the father instead of the mother, Basaiawmoit urged the people not to believe# such "cheap political propaganda".
Assuring clean and effective governance, Basaiawmoit accused the Congress-led government of indulging in corruption.
He reminded the people that the majority in the state belonged to landless category with only 24 per cent of households owning land in the state, despite the claim that land in Meghalaya belongs to the people. He also urged the people to denounce moneypower and vote for lawmakers who can fight for the cause of the people outside and inside the Assembly but not public representatives who only act like Samaritans.
He also made it clear that his party would oppose the proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, moved by the BJP-led NDA government. The bill aims at granting Indian citizenship to minority communities - Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan who had fled to India to escape religious persecution - even if they do not provide the required documents.
The objective of the bill is to amend Section 2 (b) of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which states that "illegal migrant" means a foreigner who has entered India without a valid passport or other travel documents or with a valid passport or travel document, but remains therein beyond the permitted period of time.
"Our state is very close to Bangladesh. We do not know what will happen if this bill is allowed to pass and implemented. In the name of facing religious persecution in other countries, illegal migrants might just cross the border and take shelter in our state too," he said.
In Assam, various groups, including the All Assam Students' Union are opposing the amendment bill. The chief adviser to the Asom Andolan Sangrami Manch and AGP leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta also opposed the bill as it would go against the spirit of the Assam Accord. The Accord clearly stated that any illegal migrant who had come to Assam after the midnight of March 24, 1971, would be deported irrespective of his or her religion.
