SHILLONG, Feb 17: TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has questioned Centre’s silence on the string of graft cases allegedly occurring under Conrad Sangma’s stewardship.
Addressing a rally at Khyndailad here on Friday, he wondered why ED was not sent to probe scams instead of making election issue now.
Slamming BJP, he said, “BJP is now accusing its own government in Meghalaya which cannot get more hilarious than this.”
“BJP is now saying that they will take action against those who ran the government for the past five years. But they were the ones in power. Will Amit Shah take action against himself? Will Amit Shah take action against Conrad Sangma? I dare Amit Shah to take action against Conrad Sangma. But he won’t do it because all the money went to Delhi,” Banerjee alleged.
“The money of the Khasis, Garos, and Jaintias went to people sitting in the ivory towers of Gujarat, Assam, and Madhya Pradesh. I challenge them to send me an ED notice tomorrow. I will go to the ED office, cooperate in the investigation, come out, and put these hard questions back to you again,” he added.
Referring to the tragic Mukroh incident that claimed the life of five innocent civilians, he said that West Bengal too shares its boundary with Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand but no one will dare to do something like what happened in Mukroh because Mamata Banerjee is the Home Minister and Chief Minister of West Bengal.
Condemning CM Conrad Sangma for his inaction in the case, Banerjee said, “What is stopping him from standing up for the people of his own state? He is scared of ED and CBI. The day he stands for you, ED will go and raid his house. ED will dig out all the nasty things that his brother has done, his family has done.”
The TMC leader also challenged Conrad Sangma to present a report card of what has been done in Meghalaya in the last five years and in turn, he would present a report card of what has been done in West Bengal in terms of investment, building infrastructure, improving healthcare facilities and creating employment.
“You ran a double engine government here while in West Bengal we ran a people’s engine government,” he said while adding that people themselves can vet the report cards of the two states.
Promising a sustainable and safe mining policy once Meghalaya TMC comes to power, Banerjee lambasted the MDA government for repeatedly violating the Court orders to stop illegal coal mining.
“There have been no ED-CBI raids in Meghalaya. There has been rampant illegal coal mining in the last five years despite High Court orders and guidelines. There has been an embargo from the Court. But still, you have rat-hole mining and illegal mining going on. Who is this money going to? This is your money. But this money is going into the pockets of leaders and BJP honchos sitting in Guwahati and Delhi,” he said.
He repeated the party’s commitment to include Garo and Khasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
Reiterating that Meghalaya will not be ruled from Bengal but will be ruled from Meghalaya and by the leaders of this very soil, he also challenged BJP and NPP leaders come on record and say that Meghalaya will not be ruled by leaders sitting in Guwahati and Delhi.
He pointed out that West Bengal has 23 medical colleges in 23 districts and Meghalaya till date does not have even one while pointing out that Shillong Medical College exists only in papers and Tura Medical College is in doldrums.
Banerjee urged people to repose their trust on their two senior state leaders — Mukul Sangma and Charles Pyngrope — and made it clear that for Meghalaya TMC has a fresh meaning — “Trust Mukul and Charles”.
He also said the TMC believes in communal harmony since TMC also stands for “Temple, Mosque, and Church”.
Senior party leaders, including Derek O’Brien, Charles Pyngrope, George B Lyngdoh, and Elgiva Gwyneth Rynjah were present at the meeting.
