SHILLONG, Feb 8: The NPP on Wednesday tried to refute Congress attempt to find fault with the MDA report card. Party spokesperson Bajop Pyngrope said it is natural for Congress, as a poll rival, to find fault with its report card but did not address the points raised by it (Congress).
He dismissed Congress’s charges as “mere accusation”.
“Our report card is for the people of Meghalaya and not Congress, which is expected to find fault as an opponent,” he said.
The state Congress had punched holes in the NPP’s report card released recently and questioned the party on various fronts.
“Accusing the party through the media without strong evidence will not help. The people will not buy it as they know the NPP took up so many issues the other political parties kept pending during their rule,” Pyngrope said.
He asserted that the people of Meghalaya will give the NPP a good mandate as they have seen the party’s good work. The figures cited by Congress to discredit the NPP do not tally with what the people know the government has done for them, he said.
Pyngrope insisted that the NPP-led government spent judiciously during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure proper services to the returnees and those who contracted the virus. “The people are saying no government did what our government had done,” he said.
He advised Congress to come up with strong proof of any malpractice during the MDA’s term.
Congress had dissected the NPP’s 2018 election manifesto or “People’s Document” to expose alleged gross financial mismanagement, coal scam and inept handling of the Covid-19 crisis among others.
It dubbed the Conrad K Sangma-led NPP as a “non-performing party” and listed gaping holes in its performance over the last five years.
Amid criticisms from rivals and current coalition partners, the NPP justified the FOCUS, FOCUS+ and Mission Mode projects the state government started to transform the lives of the farmers.
Pyngrope said farmers are now getting the much-deserved interventions and stressing the need to continue striving hard for their welfare.
Referring to the party’s manifesto for the upcoming polls titled “People’s Document, Vision 2023-28”, he claimed that the NPP drafted a detailed work plan corresponding to the vision document.
“More than 3.1 lakh farmers under FOCUS and FOCUS+, about 1.5 lakh farmers under the Mission Mode projects and 1 lakh farmers under various cooperatives have been directly benefitted,” he said.
The schemes will be continued with improved benefits to serve every citizen of the state, he added.
The NPP would expand the number of beneficiaries of these schemes to 13 lakh farmers entailing an expenditure of Rs 3,500 crore if voted back to power, Pyngrope said.
On the poor condition of roads in the state, he said the party intends to provide all-weather roads to all the villages across Meghalaya. He also underlined the promises to set up logistic hubs near airports to facilitate the export of agricultural and horticultural produce.
