By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, June 4: Launching a fresh attack on the United Democratic Party (UDP), a partner in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) coalition government, the state Congress has remarked that whatever portfolio has been allotted to the party, it is riddled with scams, allegations and corruption.
“Whatever portfolio you hand over to UDP, it will always fail because the corruption is very high. They are sitting idle and do not come out to clear the charges leveled against them so they cannot hide,” said Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president, Vincent H Pala.
Recalling incidents to back his claims, Pala said the home delivery of liquor started after UDP took over the portfolio, while going on to point out the alleged rice scam in Social Welfare department, besides the coal illegalities when the Home portfolio is headed by UDP.
“Whatever portfolio they are heading, they are not taking it seriously for the personal benefits of the leaders and for the benefits of the people,” he added.
The MPCC chief went on to say that even the recent incident in which the dome of the new Assembly building project collapsed was headed and monitored by the Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh, who is the UDP president. “I personally think it is due to corruption,” Pala remarked.
He claimed that the Speaker had conducted inspection of the project on a regular basis before the dome’s collapse.
On the state government asking the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati to carry out the auditing work, the Congress chief seemed not pleased with the idea, even as he pointed out that an independent or autonomous body under the supervision of High Court judge or retired Supreme Court judge should be roped in to unearth what went amiss. “Only then the reality will be revealed; whether it is because of the design, construction or any other thing,” he added.