From Saurav Borah
ADOKGRE (NORTH GARO HILLS): Former chief minister and Congress’ Tura Lok Sabha seat candidate, Mukul Sangma was categorical when he said that his party’s fight was with the “BJP and its conglomerates” and that the saffron party was only riding piggyback on parties like National People’s Party to fulfill its unacceptable agenda and impose contentious legislations such as Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) on the people.
He also said that the coal mining issue would be resolved once the Congress forms government.
The seasoned Congressman, who embarked on his poll campaign in Kharkutta constituency in North Garo Hills here on Saturday afternoon, claimed that his party was here to expose the “anti-CAB drama staged by NPP” as its president Conrad Sangma was part of the NDA when it decided to introduce the bill in Parliament on July 15, 2016.
“But when people of North East reacted strongly against the bill, the NPP, for its political survival, tried to position itself and engaged in drama, which is what we are exposing,” Mukul told The Shillong Times in an exclusive interview here on Saturday afternoon.
Casually attired in jeans and shirt, the veteran leader also showed signs of emotion towards the end of his speech in Garo while referring to chenangre (the Garo word for ‘land of victory’), as this place is known, and appealed to the people to vote for Congress this time (people here had earlier voted for PA Sangma and his children) to complete the unfinished development work and bring about transformation.
The poll rally was attended by Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee president, Celestine Lyngdoh, former MLAs, Cherak Momin and O K Sangma and other Congress leaders and supporters.
Mukul further outlined the chronology of how late PA Sangma was nurtured by Congress when he first entered active politics and how an unexpected political development took place with his exit from the party and joining parties such as Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and later floating NPP.
“NPP per se is a culmination of Purno A Sangma’s rebellious behavior after he was put up as a candidate on behalf of BJP in 2012 only to be opposed by NCP, which was aligned with Congress and its principle of secularism,” he recalled.
NPP, the former chief minister asserted, is a culmination of the manipulation of BJP.
“The whole exercise is a result of BJP’s intent to identify and rope in leaders to float new parties to wage a proxy war against Congress. NPP is a party conceived and delivered by BJP to fight against Congress since BJP knows that it cannot ultimately make inroads in states like Meghalaya or Mizoram….but they ride piggyback on a number of political parties and NPP is one of them…NPP is groomed and nurtured, supplemented with nutrients to make sure that they are strong enough to fight the Congress,” he said, bluntly.
BJP, he said was smart enough to keep them in its loop with the sole objective of fighting and weakening the Congress to go ahead with their unacceptable agenda.
“Be it CAB in Assam, or PRC issue in Arunachal Pradesh, we saw how force was used to blunt protests. In Shillong also, the Army had to be called in when the government could not control the tussle between two groups. So, BJP and its conglomerates lack understanding of the complexity of the North East, considering the diverse cultural and ethnic background of the region,” he said.
Asked about the main issues he would address in Parliament if he wins, Mukul said, “In regard to Tura Lok Sabha constituency, we are concerned about the disparity in development opportunities which we will try to bridge. We are looking at a special investment strategy for North East in respect to social sector both in health and education and ensure that jobs are created for youths in their own backyard, so that they don’t have to migrate to other parts.”
He said that sources of income of the low-income groups have to be stabilised and that he was considering an ambitious agenda to legislate in Parliament to economically empower people and come up with a minimum income guarantee scheme.
On Tura town remaining underdeveloped for decades, the former chief minister pointed out that Tura had developed during his tenure, between 2010 and 2018. “The Government Medical College, Government College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Meghalaya Tech University are being constructed,” he said.
“It’s on record and huge investments in the road sector have taken place, be it the JICA-funded NH 62, NH 127B (linking Meghalaya with North Bengal) or the Rs 210-crore Dhupdhara-Rongjeng highway which is under construction. The ground work was done during my term as CM to ensure a dedicated fund for work to be in progress now,” he added.
Mukul also touched upon the innovation in regard to externally-aided projects like the one funded by Asian Development Bank for a school with digital classrooms and facilities for vocational training for dropouts here.
Taking potshots at the incumbent CM (Conrad Sangma), he said, “Now there is zero investment. These areas have been completely neglected….late PA Sangma chose this place to start his campaign and his children are now engaging in the same rhetoric but there has been no transformation.”
Coal mining issue
Mukul asserted that the mining issue would be resolved once the Congress forms government.
“The mining issue will be resolved. You go through all the measures taken by our government. We had the Mining Development and Regulation Policy, 2012 during our time. The ministry of mines and ministry of coal had given consent to agree to the proposal of the state government to invoke Para 12 A (b) of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution so that Coal Mines Nationalisation Act does not apply in respect of Meghalaya,” Mukul said.
He further said that the Cabinet has to decide and give a presidential notification. “After we form the government, we will give the presidential notification invoking Para 12 A(b) to ensure that coal mining starts in Meghalaya in conformity with the provisions and requirements of law,” Sangma said.
It may be mentioned here that the chief minister had during a poll rally in South Garo Hills accused Mukul of being “lackadaisical” on the coal mining ban in the state and monopolising the coal trade.
Conrad alleged that Mukul had failed to challenge the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order, which created hurdles for people dependent on coal mining.