A senior Meghalaya legislator Monday said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi should be asked to vacate his official residence, situated in a “disputed area”, or else “pay house rent” to the Meghalaya government.
Calling the attention of the government on the second day of the budget session in the legislative assembly, Paul Lyngdoh of the United Democratic Party (UDP) urged the state government to initiate action in this regard as the official residence of the Assam chief minister is situated on a plot of land which is one of the areas of difference between the two neighbouring states for several decades.
Meghalaya has 12 areas of difference with Assam.
“I strongly urge the state government to officially write to the Assam chief minister to either vacate this plot of land and hand it over, or he be asked to start paying house rent to the government of Meghalaya,” the UDP legislator added.
The UDP is a key ally in the ruling Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance government.
“The government should take up the matter to its logical end and start the process of getting the land re-transferred to Meghalaya so as to indicate that the government is serious about resolving the issue at the earliest,” Lyngdoh said.
Claiming that the official residence of Gogoi at Khanapara is a disputed area, Meghalaya Revenue Minister R.C. Laloo maintained that the government was in possession of all relevant land records to prove its claim.
“The Assam state Guest House which is presently the residence of the chief minister of Assam is located on a small hillock known as Khanadhura Hill. This hillock falls within the Khanapara-Pilangakata Block (under Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district) which is one of the areas of difference with Assam,” Laloo informed.
Meghalaya became an autonomous State in 1971 and a full-fledged state on Jan 21, 1972. Since then, the inter-state boundary as defined under the North Eastern Areas (Re-Organisation) Act, 1971 has been a point of difference between Meghalaya and Assam.