SHILLONG, April 29: Leaving no space for any miscommunication this time, the collective leadership of the United Democratic Party (UDP) has written to Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma demanding an independent inquiry into the allegations of irregularities in the Power.
“This letter to make the Chief Minister aware of the allegations being highlighted for taking necessary steps,” UDP president Metbah Lyngdoh said Thursday.
He said the decision to sound the Chief Minister for an independent probe was taken at a party meeting comprising all the elected UDP members and other leaders.
“All of them gave me the responsibility, as the party president, of writing the letter for addressing the issues troubling the corporation, the government and the state as a whole,” Lyngdoh said.
“We hope the Chief Minister will respect the issues raised by our party,” he added.
The UDP president indicated the party has climbed down from the demand to remove James Sangma as the Power Minister.
“We are not discussing the Power Minister’s ouster at this juncture as there was some miscommunication in the party during my absence. The party entrusted the matter to me after I returned to Shillong,” he said.
In the letter to the Chief Minister, the UDP highlighted the allegations of irregularities in the Saubhagya scheme, smart meters, enterprise resource learning, the appointment of advisors, the outsourcing of 33/11 KV substation, special tariff to BIA, power banking and swapping, power theft alleged by the MeECL chief and the appointment of a junior officer as the director (Distribution).
“In view of the above irregularities, it would be in the fitness of things to institute an independent inquiry to unearth the truth on all the allegations and also to restore the confidence of the general public,” the letter said while seeking the immediate removal of people at the helm of affairs to facilitate a free and fair probe.
