SHILLONG, Feb 18: TMC national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday slammed Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma for failing to safeguard the interest of the people of Meghalaya and take a stand for them in the past five years.
Banerjee was speaking at a rally in Umlyngka ground to drum up support for the TMC candidate from Mylliem constituency, Gilbert Guidingstar Laloo. “Do we really need a CM, who does not have the spine and courage to stand for the people of their state? Do we need a CM, who does not know how to protect the rights of the poorest of poor of this land,” Banerjee said.
To substantiate his claim, he cited the Mukroh incident in which five civilians, labeled as timber smugglers by Assam police, were killed.
He further questioned if the state needs a CM, who has sold himself to the leaders sitting in the ivory towers of Guwahati and Delhi.
According to him, the state needs a true leader, who will stand up for the rights of every Meghalayan, fight for them and bring back the past glory of the state.
“After Mukroh incident, the state government has not started an investigation and sent out a notice to the perpetrators to start the probe. The Assam police opened fire at poor farmers for nothing and now the perpetrators in today’s time are moving scot-free,” TMC national general secretary said.
He said Meghalaya shares its borders with Assam, just like West Bengal shares its boundaries with Odisha, Bihar and Jharkhand though West Bengal never witnessed border skirmishes with any state.
“Do these three states or their police have the guts to do something like Mukroh with Bengal? The answer is no because we have a CM in West Bengal who knows how to stand for the right of the people. My question is if Bengal can protect it’s right why can’t Meghalaya?” he said.
TMC national general secretary said if voted to power, TMC would ensure that Meghalaya emerges as the number one state in the country.
Maintaining that Meghalaya is the only state in India that does not have any medical college, Banerjee said, “It pains me to see that Shillong Medical College exists only on paper and the future of the Tura medical college looks bleak.”
He asserted that there should be medical colleges in all the 12 districts of Meghalaya.
“West Bengal has 23 medical colleges in all its 23 districts. There should be one medical college in every district of Meghalaya. If Bengal can do that, why Meghalaya can’t?” he said.
Banerjee also spoke about his party’s stand to include Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
