DALU/ SHILLONG, Feb 17: After describing Meghalaya the most corrupt state, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday named two Sangmas — Conrad and Mukul — for rampant corruption during their respective tenures as chief minister.
Addressing a well attended public meeting at Dalu constituency in West Garo Hills today he went a step further to promise a judicial inquiry into the graft charges and bring those responsible to justice.
Interestingly, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma who is considered to be close to Conrad Sangma, also echoed similar views.
This surprise frontal attack by BJP stalwarts on Conrad Sangma perhaps is an indication of the shape of things to come in the post-election ministry formation.
Slamming the past governments for “corruption” in Meghalaya, Shah said despite the Sangmas, Mukul, and Conrad, leading the government in the past tenures, the state has not seen any development.
“In Meghalaya, the Sangmas have ruled the state. But there has been no development. So what did they do all these years? Time to free the state from corruption so that the money meant sent under central schemes reach the poor people,” he said.
At another rally at Garobadha, Shah said voting for NPP would benefit Conrad and his brother, not the common public who are smarting under poor living conditions, despite availability of funds under various welfare schemes of the Centre. Similarly, voting for TMC would profit Mukul and his brother rather than the hoi polloi.
Referring to the development in neighbouring Assam over the past seven years under BJP, Shah said that such progress in that state has been achieved owing to central schemes.
“Modi ji has sanctioned schemes for Meghalaya but the Sangma government had blocked them. Scheme money from the Centre has come to the state over the years but has not reached the beneficiaries owing to corruption. So, if the BJP is voted to power in Meghalaya, the first thing we will do is to institute a probe under a retired judge of the Supreme Court,” the Home minister said.
Taking a dig at the NPP government, Shah compared the incumbent government in Meghalaya to a “damaged transformer” which “needed to be replaced with a new one”.
“So, it’s time to change the government and vote for BJP. Then only the schemes will reach the people. Poor people will get the right amount of rice along with dal, oil, and sugar. They will get homes and toilets, free health facilities, and LPG cylinders,” he assured.
Shah further promised that jobs would be given to the unemployed in a transparent manner. “Do you get government jobs in Meghalaya without giving a bribe?” he asked, while adding that in Assam, Manipur, and Tripura, government jobs have been given in a transparent way.
“Besides, the road work from national highways to the interior areas has remained shoddy in the state because of corruption which has to be weeded out,” he said.
“The Sangmas have all these years been voted to power by the people of Garo Hills but have they done anything for the people of this region,” he further asked.
Shah had on Thursday addressed a rally in Tura and termed Meghalaya as one of the most corrupt states in the country.
Shah also took potshots at the Trinamool Congress and former chief minister Mukul Sangma, saying that if the party from Bengal is at the helm, infiltrators from Bangladesh, the border of which is just a couple of kilometres from Dalu, will enter the state.
On the performance in the last Assembly election, he said that the BJP had lost by a few hundred votes last time. “So this time, vote for the BJP candidate (from Dalu) Akki Sangma,” he said.
In regard to education, Shah said that if the BJP comes to power it will ensure that primary and secondary school students are taught in the local language.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, during his interactive speech, said that it was time the people of Meghalaya elected a people’s leader. “For five years, the candidates don’t come to meet people. They come only before an election…but BJP will meet people before and after an election,” he said.
“All these years, the governance was all from the Sangma families. The leaders are hardly accessible to the people nor are the schemes for the poor. There is no widow pension, old age pension, or good roads,” Sarma said.
Sarma further said that if the BJP was voted to power, the people of Dalu would be able to avail all schemes, including a scheme like the one (Orunodoi) implemented in Assam.
Notably, this is the first time that a Union Home Minister had stayed overnight in Garo Hills.
BJP workers have been upbeat since the Home minister landed in Garo Hills, stayed overnight, and as per sources, met members of most localities in the town of Tura.
Further highly placed party sources also added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also coming to the region on February 24 to help push the BJP campaign further. While the venue is yet to be decided, sources stated the meeting would be undertaken in Tura in West Garo Hills.
