SHILLONG, Dec 14: A day after Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) national spokesperson Saket Gokhale vowed to continue to defame Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong “if the latter is a thief”, the latter said the former was not worth debating with.
“Why should I spend time with someone who does not have anything to do? We don’t know how much he loves and cares for Meghalaya,” he said, adding that Gokhale is acting as if he is a part and parcel of Meghalaya.
Reiterating that anybody making the allegations has to provide documentary evidence, Tynsong said the Chief Minister, ministers and officers in Meghalaya are guided by rules and not – as Gokhale alleged – by an “IAS officer who acts as a super CM”.
Tynsong said he has already clarified on the allegations linked to the MEIDP and said the leader of the Opposition (Mukul Sangma) could check the papers of the societies involved.
“Sangma knows about the rules and procedures of the government and departments well. Whatever money we spend in any sector has to be reflected in the book of accounts,” he said.
Tynsong also said Sangma, during his tenure as the Chief Minister of the state for eight years, ruled like a dictator and even ministers were not allowed to speak their minds on the demand for implementing the ILP in the state.
“I am surprised that the person who was dead against ILP during his tenure as the CM is now singing a different tune just because he became leader of the Opposition,” he said.
“Let the people of Meghalaya find out his true colour,” he said.
When reminded that he was a part of the former Congress-led government, Tynsong said Sangma was into the habit of saying Meghalaya does not need the ILP.
“I resigned because of him and he was a dictator. So, we could not speak anything,” Tynsong said
He answered in the affirmative when asked if the government would take up the issue of ILP with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the state.
Brushing off Banerjee’s promise to resolve the Assam-Meghalaya boundary dispute, Tynsong said she needs to first assess the way she is running the government in West Bengal before meddling in the affairs of the state.
He said the strength of the TMC would decrease after Banerjee’s visit to Meghalaya. “If the people vote for the TMC, the state will move backwards. Mamata Banerjee does not know much about Mukul Sangma, but I know everything about him,” Tynsong said.
