State has forgotten BB Lyngdoh
SHILLONG: Though the whole of Garo Hills remembered the first Chief Minister Captain Williamson Sangma on his 23rd death anniversary on Friday, no one recollected the contributions of Late Chief Minister BB Lyngdoh on his 10th death anniversary on Sunday.
Lyngdoh passed away on October 27, 2003 leaving a vacuum in Meghalaya politics.
No memorial function was organized by the State government to acknowledge the contributions of Lyngdoh on the day of his 10th death anniversary.
Several promises were made by the successive governments in the past to acknowledge the contributions of Lyngdoh, but not a single promise has materialized till date.
A decision was taken in the past to name the Umroi Airport as BB Lyngdoh Airport, there was no follow up action.
Known as father of coalition politics in India, Lyngdoh was the Chief Minister of the State on four occasions.
While paying tribute to this great leader, senior UDP leader Bindo Mathew Lanong termed the former Chief Minister as an ‘honest politician’.
“He (Lyngdoh) was one of the few politicians who were free from corruption. Everyone knows that he did not own any property till his death,” Lanong said.
He pointed out that the present genre of politicians lack the quality of the past leaders.
“Majority of the present politicians are using the profession to gain monetary benefits,” Lanong said.
The senior UDP leader also said that the former Chief Minister had lived in Ropsi Mansion till his death.
“He (Lyngdoh) always remained to his roots and he is not somebody who would build a mansion by spending crores of rupees from the public money,” he said.
While admitting that they should have observed the 10th death anniversary of Lyngdoh, Lanong, however, hoped that they would be able to observe his death anniversary in a befitting way in the years to come.