SHILLONG, Feb 17: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s “most corrupt state in the country” tag for Meghalaya seems to have given fresh fodder to political parties in the state to question the BJP itself for not doing anything to root out corruption despite being part of the ruling MDA for five years.
Questioning what had stopped BJP from investigating the corruption charges against the NPP-led MDA government, Meghalaya TMC vice president George B Lyngdoh wanted to know why Amit Shah did not rope in the ED or CBI to inquire into the plethora of cases.
“We had written letters to the Prime Minister highlighting the corruption issue in the state but they (BJP) did not take any action because they were part of this government and the high drama,” Lyngdoh said.
He also accused the BJP government in Assam of being hand in glove in the illegal coal trade and the cattle smuggling racket in Meghalaya.
“Amit Shah is now coming up with this big talk saying they will do this and that? What had prevented them from doing it earlier?” Lyngdoh questioned, while alleging that the Home minister was only attempting to fool the people.
“If they really mean business then let them bring in the ED and the CBI today. Don’t talk about post March 2. If you dare then ‘walk the talk’,” the TMC vice president said.
Referring to the allegation that TMC is responsible for the pre-poll clash in Phulbari, Lyngdoh said such things will be there in a high-voltage contest.
“Even in my constituency (Umroi) there are instances of rift among political party members,” he said.
Lyngdoh also accused political parties of “copying and pasting” from the TMC manifesto.
“The NPP is now saying they will give 5 lakh jobs. If they provided only 8,000 jobs in the last five years how do we expect them to create 5 lakh new jobs,” he said.
Stating that the Congress is talking about Rs 5,000 which is only meant to be a single payment, Lyngdoh said, “Almost every family in rural areas is burdened with debt. Everybody is looking towards the government which will at least give a finger for people to hold on to in hope for a better future.”
Making it clear that every party will have reasons as to why they have come up with such kinds of offers, the TMC leader said, “We in the TMC are looking forward to provide equitable distribution of all schemes and to all families irrespective of caste and creed.”
