SHILLONG, Dec 21: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Wednesday claimed the state government is succumbing to the powers of Assam and central governments.
“Our Chief Minister (Conrad K Sangma) has already said the agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP will be furthered by the state government not only in Meghalaya but across the Northeast. So, there is a strong connivance of thoughts and actions between Assam and Meghalaya governments and in their policies that we see on the ground,” TMC legislator and Opposition Chief Whip George B Lyngdoh said.
Nobody dares take any action and due to this connivance, even if people are murdered within Meghalaya, the state government has to succumb to the powers of Guwahati and Delhi, he said.
Stating that the suspension of the Assam officials involved in the recent killing of five villagers at Mukroh does not absolve them of their “heinous” crime, he said it signals that anyone can get away by coming to Meghalaya and killing people. He said people will be suspended for a few months and then, they will be back to work.
“This sends a wrong signal to the people of the state that the rule of law has been totally and brutally put aside by the governments of Assam and Meghalaya,” Lyngdoh said. Although Assam has extended all support to the investigation into the Mukroh incident, some pressure groups are unhappy with just the suspension of the Assam officials involved in the killing.
Meanwhile, Lyngdoh claimed that some elements, apart from policemen, are minting money from the highways by pressuring and looting trucks. He said the state government took no action despite the same was highlighted before it.
On a pressure group’s letter to the Registrar of the High Court of Meghalaya on the alleged rampant movement of overloaded trucks, he said, “I have seen the letter. I have also seen the overloaded trucks plying along the Shillong-Guwahati highway and the Shillong bypass which has led to a serious and rapid degradation of infrastructure, roads and bridges.”
“We saw recently how the Dwar Ksuid bridge got dilapidated abruptly because of the movement of overloaded trucks. The government has been warned of the same but it has totally lost control over administration and management of law and order across the state,” Lyngdoh alleged.
He said overloading caused the sudden degradation of critical infrastructure and in this case, the safety of the Umiam dam is being compromised by the state government.
“If continued, this may lead to the cracking of the dam and we will witness a huge crisis, including that of power. We may suffer huge economic losses if vehicles have to be re-directed as in the past months leading to escalation in cost and inflation,” he said.
Stating that the rule of law has been totally discarded and people, especially illegal players, do not care about law as the police administration has been constantly reshuffled and the DCs have not been empowered enough, the TMC leader said, “It seems there is hidden high-handedness from the powers-that-be which does not allow the officers to ensure that the rule of law applies across the state.”
