SHILLONG, Dec 30: A day after Meghalaya BJP threatened to move the Election Commission against the Meghalaya Trinamool Congress’s financial inclusion scheme “WE Card”, TMC MLA George B Lyngdoh tore into the saffron party saying the move only exposes the BJP’s anti-people agenda.
Referring to the BJP’s decision to move the EC, Lyngdoh said that this is an attempt of the BJP to block a pro-people scheme which is designed to uplift the poor and the marginalised.
“It only exposes the BJP’s anti-poor and anti-development politics. It also shows that BJP has a disregard for the needs of the people of Meghalaya,” he said.
Reiterating that the “WE Card” scheme is meant to serve the people of Meghalaya and throws light on the vision of governance put forward by Meghalaya TMC, he said that similar models have been used all over the country and in other countries where such schemes have only empowered the community to take giant strides towards development.
Lyngdoh recalled that BJP state president Ernest Mawrie had admitted that women across the state have lined up to register for the scheme which proves that people are welcoming the scheme and they look forward to a government that will work for the people and also announce schemes that will be for the welfare of the poor irrespective of caste, creed or religion.
The Umroi legislator also listed several instances of BJP’s pre-poll sops across the country saying BJP “tricks” people in the name of welfare schemes before polls but opposes initiatives by other parties calling it “shortcut politics.”
“Just ahead of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, the Centre extended the free food scheme only for three months. Multiple sops were announced in Gujarat ahead of the elections amounting to Rs 80,000 crore, which included around Rs 29,000 crore worth of projects unveiled by the Prime Minister himself. Ahead of the UP elections this year, PM Narendra Modi suddenly announced Rs 20,900 crore for PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, which will give Rs 6,000 to farmers via direct transfer. Is the Meghalaya BJP aware of these facts?” he asked.
The TMC leader also attacked the Meghalaya BJP for its “unholy” alliance with the NPP. “After being partners in corruption with the NPP, they have suddenly turned silent on the questions pertaining to allegations of corruption in schemes like Saubhagya and smart meters and is, instead, training its guns on TMC for announcing welfare schemes,” he said.
