SHILLONG, Dec 9: The State BJP’s threat of withdrawing from the MDA Government over the issue of corruption and misgovernance seems to have been full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.
Since making the announcement in September, several BJP leaders reiterated the same but now with two months left before the state goes to polls it seems highly unlikely that the withdrawal will actually take place.
On Friday, when asked about the status of the pull out threat, BJP State president Ernest Mawrie repeated that they were awaiting final instructions from the central leadership.
Reminded that the tenure of the MDA Government was almost coming to an end, Mawrie said he would visit New Delhi to meet BJP national president JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and even Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
In the meantime, the saffron party had decided to continue its fight against corruption and is planning to file RTI applications to get to the bottom of the allegations levelled by TMC national spokesperson Saket Gokhale of large-scale financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 632 crore in the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project (MEIDP) headed by IAS officer D Vijay Kumar.
The state government has vehemently refuted the allegation and has even filed a defamation case against the TMC leader.
In addition, the FOCUS scheme has also come under the BJP’s scanner with the party alleging that the MDA government is using it to entice voters.
The party claimed the government is spending from the Rs 1,500 crore foreign investment loan to pay Rs 4,000-5,000 to each beneficiary of FOCUS.
Quoting Agriculture Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh, BJP state president Ernest Mawrie told journalists although the scheme is meant for the farmers and producers’ groups in rural areas, the workers of the National People’s Party were allegedly going to people in urban areas and asking for their bank account details to transfer money from the scheme.
Stating that the BJP has filed an RTI application in this regard, Mawrie said according to the BJP’s sources, the government is spending money for the scheme from the Rs 1,500 crore foreign investment loan.
He said when he had raised the matter at an all-party meeting, the leaders of other political parties supported him.
“They should not misuse the scheme as it is a loan from foreign investment and it has to be paid back with interest,” Mawrie said.
Stating that any scheme has to go to the deserving people through the proper channel, he claimed some beneficiaries of the scheme in West Khasi Hills district are government employees.
He questioned the timing of the scheme and said it should have been implemented earlier, not two-three months before the elections.
Under the scheme, an initial mobilization fund of Rs 5,000 is provided to each member of a producers’ group. This flagship initiative is aimed at enhancing the livelihood of farmers through interventions across the value chain.
