SHILLONG, Feb 5: Meghalaya BJP president Ernest Mawrie on Sunday harped on the freebies issue to turn the tide against his rival candidates.
The distribution of freebies has snowballed into a major controversy in the state, particularly in West Shillong constituency, where Mawrie is crossing swords with NPP’s Mohendro Rapsang and UDP’s Paul Lyngdoh.
He talked tough against the distribution of freebies by both the MDC and former MLA saying people in the constituency need livelihood and security and not freebies.
Talking exclusively to The Shillong Times, Mawrie recalled that in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP’s Shibun Lyngdoh got the highest number of votes in the constituency and BJP repeated the same performance in 2019 Lok Sabha polls when Sanbor Shullai secured the highest number of votes.
Claiming that the BJP will win the seat with a big margin this time, Mawrie also termed the recent statement of Mohendro Rapsang about smart projects in the constituency worth Rs 5 crore as a false promise.
“We are in election mode and how can the former MLA come up with false promise? Where will the money come from? Smart cities in the country are announced by the Union government and not by the state government,” he said.
Stating that it is only BJP which can bring development and no other party can do that, Mawrie said that he has already planned an exit road in the constituency as Them Mawbah only has an entry road and does not have an exit road.
Mawrie said his focus is on creating a better infrastructure once he wins the contest. He spoke about his discussion with the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh regarding the construction of a super market in Mawbah, which was recently demolished as it turned into a den of drugs.
“Rajnath Singh will come during the election and we will again discuss the issue as we want to accommodate all the street vendors there in the proposed supermarket,” he said.
The BJP state president sounded confident about winning the see-saw battle.
It remains to be seen if Ernest Mawrie can pull off a win defeating the sitting MDC and MLA, who recently resigned from his post.
The main fight for the seat is between Paul Lyngdoh and Mohendro Rapsang, who have fought against each other in 2013 and 2018.
This is for the first time that the saffron party is contesting in this constituency and Mawrie considers himself a strong contender.
