Our Bureau
SHILLONG/TURA: The NPP has trained its gun on the Congress for the repeated allegations of “nexus with the BJP” and said the latter was a “sly party” with no genuine agenda.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has asked voters to seek accountability of Congress candidate Mukul Sangma on the “nexus” issue.
“Ask Congress candidate Dr Mukul Sangma if during his tenure as chief minister whether he did not work with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He (Mukul) is saying that NPP is working with BJP, yes we are working with the centre to ensure development and he did the same. So if NPP-BJP is same, Congress and BJP are also the same,” he said during an election rally in Garo Hills on Monday.
Conrad asserted that in the last one year, the MDA government maintained a cordial relationship with the Centre and was able to bring in funds for various projects.
“During Mukul’s regime, Meghalaya was accorded merely Rs 150 crore under PMGSY, which was upgraded to Rs 1,500 crore during the NPP tenure of just one year.
NPP state president WR Kharlukhi told reporters in the city on Monday that the party never hid its working with the NDA. It was also clear about its stand on the citizenship bill and had said it would withdraw from the NDA had the bill been approved in the Rajya Sabha, he said.
“The Congress, on the other hand, worked with the BJP, NPP and UDP in the JHADC in 2018 and it has forgotten its own alliance with the BJP. It has no issue and so it is making up issues,” the NPP leader said about the allegations and called the Congress is a sly party “that keeps on targeting NPP over its alliance with NDA”.
NPP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong also pointed to the Congress cohorts saying though SP, BSP and the Congress had an agreement in the past, all of them are contesting separately.
“If you have the agreement to adjust the seat, then why are you not adjusting the seat? They could not have a seat adjustment due to opposition from local leaders. If they go ahead with seat adjustments, then the Congress will be nowhere. Before criticising others, the Congress should keep its own house in order,” Tynsong said.
According to Tynsong, the Congress is bereft of agenda and hence NPP is blamed as the team B of BJP or BJP is blamed as the team B of NPP and it is not a new thing.
Even on the issue of CAB, Congress has differences of opinion and “the Congress MP from Silchar was in favour of CAB”, he said.
When asked whether BJP putting up candidate will affect the poll prospect of MDA candidate, Tynsong said, “One cannot stop the BJP from contesting”.
As far as NPP is concerned, Tynsong said the party decided not to contest since it feels that the spirit of unity within the alliance should be maintained.
“We also found that Jemino Mawthoh is the fittest candidate. Had it been somebody else, we may not have agreed to the proposal of the UDP. By and large, he is the fittest for the Lok Sabha to take on the sitting MP,” he said.
Tura race
Maintaining that the party has intensified its campaign in Garo Hills, Kharlukhi added that the NPP is contesting the elections to win it.
When asked if the NPP is facing its toughest challenge in Tura from Congress, he added that every election is considered a battle and party does not take any election lightly.
On being asked if there is anti-incumbency in Tura for NPP, he said there is no such fear as people will judge the performance of the party in the elections.
