SHILLONG: Claiming that sitting Shillong MP and Congress nominee Vincent H Pala is the best MP to have ever represented Meghalaya, AICC general secretary in charge of the State Luzinho Faleiro said that past MPs, including former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma who had represented the State, had failed to make any contribution towards progress and development.
“None of the MPs in the past have been able to contribute like Pala. We have a person like Sangma who had got the opportunity to hold various top positions including the post of Lok Sabha Speaker but has done little for the good of the State,” Faleiro said while talking to newsmen here on Thursday.
He said that the only achievement of Sangma was that he had changed many political parties in the past many years to suit his own interest.
“We have a candidate like Pala. In the plast five years, Pala’s performance in the front of development and progress is an ample testimony what the best Member of Parliament can be like. Let us take the Central schemes. Pala was vocal that he wanted Shillong bypass, Shillong-Tura road and four-laning of the road from Shillong to Guwahati. I am proud that all these dreams of the people have become a reality,” Faleiro said.
He said that the UPA Government had allocated Rs 251 crore for Shillong Bypass, Rs 521 crore for the four-laning of the Shillong-Guwahati Road and Rs 1,694 crore for the Shillong-Nongstoin-Tura road.
“If people want more development, they should again vote Pala. He has got the road map and mission for the growth and development of the State,” the AICC general secretary said.
While stating that the BJP wanted to impose on the people of Meghalaya along with the rest of the country the Gujarat model, he said that the people should reject this attempt of the BJP since they had their own distinctive Meghalaya model. “You have got cultural and traditional strength, a model of peace and tranquility, cultural social and religious harmony. The Congress party would like maintain this Meghalaya model,” Faleiro said.
He said that in the Gujarat model, there is also the Godhra riot, in which 2,000 people had lost their lives.