Shillong, Feb 5: United Democratic Party (UDP) leader and cabinet minister Paul Lyngdoh on Wednesday questioned the alleged failure of the Voice of the People Party (VPP) to include Article 371 in its manifesto for the elections to the autonomous district councils (ADCs) in the Khasi and Jaintia regions of the state.
The VPP in its manifesto for the 2023 Assembly elections had assured to pressurize the Centre for extension of the special protective provision for the state of Meghalaya under Article 371 of the Constitution of India.
According to Lyngdoh, the VPP after being elected in 2023 should have adopted a resolution for the immediate exclusion of Meghalaya from Sixth Schedule and the imposition of Article 371. However, the UDP will continue to enlighten the public why Article 371 is not at all an option for Meghalaya.
Replying to a question during an interaction with journalists, Lyngdoh said Article 371 is “missing” from the VPP’s manifesto for the ADC elections.
“Well, it is a very powerful and intelligent manner in which you have interpreted their manifesto. I think the people should know that. You (VPP speaking about Article 371) can have something from your platform and that same item is missing in your manifesto. It simply means that there is something that the party is not very clear about and I keep telling this as leaders first and foremost you must have clarity of thought,” he said while adding “You can’t try to enter the centre of power in the KHADC, call for Article 371 and then take oath as MDCs because you will take oath to uphold the Sixth Schedule for which Article 371 seeks to negate.”
Further, the UDP leader reiterated in categorically asserting that in any arrangement where the Sixth Schedule is in operation, there is no possibility of Article 371 being imposed.
“It is as clear as daylight. Both the Sixth Schedule and Article 371 cannot co-exist in a single system,” he said.
Lyngdoh cited the example of Mizoram to assert his stance and said, “A very clear example is that of the state of Mizoram where Article 371 covers the entire Mizoram except for the three ADCs, which have been constituted to cater to the needs of other tribals, meaning tribals within Mizoram, who are non-Mizos. The rest of Mizoram comes under Article 371 meaning that you can’t have Article 371 and the Sixth Schedule at the same time, which is why the 3 ADCs of Mizoram have been constituted to address to the needs of non-Mizo tribals within the state of Mizoram.”
The UDP leader also recalled that he had strongly opposed the resolution moved by the VPP president and Nongkrem legislator Ardent Basaiawmoit for the implementation of Article 371 in Meghalaya during the Assembly session held in 2015.
“It’s on record that I had also participated in the debate to oppose the idea of Article 371,” he said while adding “I would like you to first go through the debates in the House because debates within the House are sacrosanct. These are not some speeches made in some bazaar. It was a speech I have made in the floor of the House with cogent arguments why Article 371 is not a solution for Meghalaya. So that argument, we will continue to share with the electorates. It is easy to mislead people because they are not sufficiently informed. Therefore, as UDP, we will be enlightening the public as to why Article 371 is not at all an option for Meghalaya.”
Citing further examples on the issue, Lyngdoh said, “For instance look at two immediate examples which I can give you – one the land transfer Act is to be implementable across Meghalaya except in the three normal areas of Shillong. Why? Because the entire state of Meghalaya is constituted and these areas have been declared as Scheduled areas. What do you mean by Schedule areas? Schedule areas occur because we fall under the Sixth Schedule.”
“Ninety-eight percent of Meghalaya has been exempted from the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the CAA is only applicable again to the normal wards within the city of Shillong because the rest of the state is covered by the Sixth Schedule and the moment you tampered with that, you destroy the very foundation of Meghalaya statehood,” he stated.
Challenging the VPP to adopt a resolution on Article 371, Lyngdoh said, “And for any political party that seeks to implement Article 371, the first thing that they need to do when they are elected is to adopt a resolution calling for the immediate exclusion of Meghalaya from the Sixth Schedule and the imposition of Article 371. That is their first responsibility. Meaning as soon as they are elected, they should adopt that resolution that we do away with the Sixth Schedule and come under Article 371. Is that doable? Let the electorate decide.”
Asked on the NPP’s demand for expansion of tribal areas, Lyngdoh said, “Well as it is the entire state is covered by the ADCs. If you speak of my constituency for instance, the entire Shillong West, Jaiaw constituency falls under the municipal area and yet it is also a scheduled area. So, we have both trade licenses issued by the council and also we have elected MDCs – so that idea has already been implemented. I don’t see any fresh argument there.”
