SHILLONG, Jan 31: Taking a jibe at the opposition, NPP’s East Shillong candidate Ampareen Lyngdoh has expressed doubts over the fate of TMC’s promises to voters which include the WE and MYE cards, while asserting that the West Bengal-based party does not understand Meghalaya.
According to Lyngdoh, who recently joined the NPP, the TMC is more interested in propagating their anti-BJP agenda rather than have good intentions for Meghalaya and its people.
“It seems as though winning in Meghalaya is merely a stepping stone for the TMC’s national ambitions. It is impossible for TMC to be seen as the voice of the Northeast, as they do not even understand Meghalaya,” she said.
According to Lyngdoh, their commitment of an annual Rs 3,000 crore cash transfer to the people through their “baaki (credit)” cards “would not even be possible considering that Meghalaya’s development expenditure is merely Rs 4,000 crore, unless they stop pensions and salary payments.”
Questioning the TMC’s strategy with regard to women empowerment in its manifesto, Lyngdoh termed it as a gimmick that fails to take cognizance of the current scenario of the state. “They have introduced grand schemes to create 1,200 SHGs (self-help groups) every year, without realising that in the last 5 years, our government has created more than 7,500 SHGs annually, therefore they are clearly unaware of the development of the state. It is surprising that Mukul Sangma never raised his voice against such issues internally, which is probably due to a lack of control and coordination with the party high command,” she said.
Lyngdoh also took note of a video which was being circulated that showed Mamata Banerjee scolding administrative officials for requesting development funds stating that there were no more funds post the distribution of over 1.6 crore schemes for women in Bengal. “This is exactly what would happen in Meghalaya. When implemented without proper planning, the schemes will instead take Meghalaya 30 years behind,” she said.
She also said that in West Bengal, teachers and employees are protesting for DA and hikes in salary at par with national standard and even the High Court had ordered the state government to ensure the payments were made, and yet the government there is yet to do so.
“Instead they made a statement that the West Bengal CM is trying to improve living conditions of the backward people of the state through the introduction of various projects owing to the reason of this delay. A similar situation in Meghalaya would be devastating for all of us,” she said.
