Border pact with Assam to be revoked if Trinamool Congress comes to power in Meghalaya: Party’s election manifesto

Trinamool Congress also promised a "poverty-free" Meghalaya and assured a double-digit growth for the State in the next five years.

Opposition TMC in Meghalaya on January 24 said it would "revoke" the border pact signed with Assam if it comes to power in the State, asserting that fresh consultations will be initiated for a "sustainable" solution to the boundary dispute.

Elections to the 60-member Assembly are scheduled to be held on February 27 and counting of vote will take place on March 2. Assam and Meghalaya had in March 2022 decided to end their five-decade-old border crisis in six of the 12 contested locations.

“To address the issue of unwarranted surrender of land to Assam and protect the residents in border villages, the Border MoU signed with the Government of Assam will be revoked, and a fresh set of consultations will be initiated to find a sustainable solution to the border crisis,” the TMC manifesto, released by the party's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, said.

“In addition, the security of residents of border villages will also be enhanced through the setting up of police check-posts in strategic locations, and prevent unwarranted firing of Mukroh-like incidents that led to the unfortunate death of innocent residents of Meghalaya,” it said.

Explained | The Assam-Meghalaya border firing

The border agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah by Chief Ministers of Assam and Meghalaya Himanta Biswa Sarma and Conrad Sangma, respectively. The pact sought to resolve the protracted dispute in six of the 12 places along the 884.9 km border between the two States.