The Voice of the People Party (VPP) MLAs on Thursday staged a walkout of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly in protest against the Deputy Speaker’s decision to allow the Minister of State for Education, Rakkam A. Sangma, to respond to a query instead of the Chief Minister.
The walkout occurred after VPP leader Ardent M Basaiawmoit demanded that the Chief Minister personally address his concerns regarding teacher recruitment in Dadenggre.
However, when the Education Minister rose to respond, Ardent objected, citing previous inflammatory remarks made by the minister during an election campaign that he believed incited division between the Khasi and Garo communities. Ardent insisted that the Speaker should allow only the Chief Minister to answer the question.
Ardent stated that if he were anti-Garo, as alleged by the Education Minister, he would not have maintained good relations with the Garo people since the 1980s. He further called for action against the Minister for his remarks against the VPP.
Despite the Deputy Speaker’s decision to proceed with the Minister’s response, Ardent refused to listen and accused the Minister of violating Section 196 of the BNSS Act due to negative remarks made about the VPP during an election campaign speech.
In response, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong argued that Ardent’s allegations should be expunged from the record as they targeted a private individual.
As the Deputy Speaker called for the Minister to reply to the queries, the VPP MLAs exited the Assembly in protest, shouting “Shame, Shame.”
