SHILLONG, Jan 8: The Congress in Meghalaya has slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for trying to influence the people of the state by claiming that no new government will be formed after the upcoming Assembly polls without them.
“This is a clear attempt to threaten the people of the state that they are not going to accept their mandate. In a democracy, the mandate given by the people should be respected,” state Congress chief, Vincent H Pala told The Shillong Times here on Sunday.
According to him, the BJP-led NDA government has not done anything special for the development of the state in particular and the north eastern region in general.
He recalled that the previous Congress-led government at the Centre had earmarked Rs 56,000 crore under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North Eastern (SARDP-NE) region for improving the road network.
“But no such initiative was taken by the NDA government. It has done away with so many of the central schemes,” the MPCC president said.
Pala said the NPP-led MDA government under the leadership of Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma did not receive any special assistance from the Centre in the past five years.
“The state government has got only 41% of the state’s share in central taxes. There was no additional allocation for the state in these five years,” he said.
Stating that the BJP is doing only lip service, the MPCC chief said the saffron party is trying to impose its ideology and threaten the people of the state.
“We have already seen the BJP trying to infringe upon the liberty of the people to follow the religion of their choice. This is totally not acceptable,” Pala stated.
When reminded that the BJP had played a critical role in the formation of the government after the 2018 Assembly polls despite having only two MLAs, he said the real quality of the leaders will be reflected if a similar situation arises after the upcoming polls.
“We will come to know if our leaders succumb to the BJP’s strategy by selling themselves or if they stick to their ideology. We should not surrender the future of our people,” he said.
Pala alleged that the BJP leaders, in their election campaign in several constituencies, have already started to scare the voters with the post-poll scenario if they don’t vote for the party’s candidates.
“We need to send a strong message by outrightly rejecting the candidates of the BJP in the upcoming polls,” he added.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma condemned the BJP for its claim that no party can form the next government in the state without its support.
Sangma said the BJP’s claim is “quite offending” to the electorate. “What are they trying to say? Does it mean they are trying to buy the MLAs?” he asked.
Alleging that the BJP is trying to engage in corruption, he said the party’s statement is a reflection of its intention and an indication that it is trying to manipulate the voters. “I think the people of the state should give them a befitting reply,” he added.
Sangma said the people have found out the hard way how the BJP’s machinations led to the installation of the NPP-led government despite Congress emerging as the single-largest party in the 2018 Assembly polls.
“The people and the state are paying the price for a remote-controlled government. That is why they do not want this repetition (of the MDA),” he said.
