From Our Correspondent
TURA, March 27: The fourth and the final candidate in the fray for the Tura parliamentary seat, TMC’s Zenith M Sangma filed his nomination papers on Wednesday afternoon. He was accompanied by his elder brother and Songsak MLA, Mukul Sangma, TMC MLAs Rupa Marak and Dr Mizanur Rehman Kazi, his wife and GHADC MDC Sadhiarani Sangma along with supporters.
Speaking after his nomination, Zenith tore into the incumbent MP and NPP nominee, Agatha Sangma over the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) asserting the people of Garo Hills and the state will not forget her betrayal.
“We cannot forget what she has done. We can’t forget that during the last MP election she promised to oppose the passing of the Bill (then called CAB). We saw that after she was elected and attended Parliament and voted to pass the Bill. What this means is that the people of the state have been betrayed and they will not forget,” said Zenith.
Talking about the state of the present state government, Zenith said that there was rampant corruption on all fronts which was clearly noticeable. There is also a lack of opportunity for the youths which has not been addressed. There is frustration in the youth as jobs have not been created among many other things,” he added.
Expressing confidence about his position in the upcoming election, Zenith stated that the ‘Winds of change’ were already blowing.
“This time the mood of the people of Garo Hills is different and the lack of governance and the inefficiency of the incumbent MP will ensure that the NPP will be rejected this time. We are confident that the people of Garo Hills will choose wisely this time. The result will be clear on June 4 after our election is completed on April 19,” said Zenith.
MDA’s illegal acts visible to people just a tip of the iceberg: Mukul
TMC leader Mukul Sangma alleged that there was lack of governance in the state even as he pointed to the many illegalities allegedly being committed by the MDA Government like corruption, illegal smuggling across the border as well as committing irregularities in implementation of various programmes.
Sangma also claimed that the government had also failed to provide employment to the youth of the state as well as to resolve various contentious issues. Citing the situation prevailing in the GHADC, Mukul reminded that the people of the state are benefitted by the provisions of the Sixth Schedule but when the GHADC is unable to pay the salaries of its employees, the state of governance can be well understood.
Reacting to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma’s recent statement that the CAA would not have any impact in the state, Mukul said that once a person attains citizenship, he would be eligible to reside anywhere which in turn would affect the overall demography not only of Meghalaya but other neighbouring states as well.
Speaking on the allegations of various illegal activities being committed all over the state allegedly with the patronage of the state government, the TMC leader claimed that what people are seeing today was only ‘the tip of the iceberg’.
“Today there are many allegations pertaining to various illegal activities that are taking place across the Indo-Bangladesh border like smuggling of essential commodities as well as smuggling in of items like arecanut. Such scale of smuggling cannot happen without the patronage of the people in authority. This can be supplemented by the fact that officers who were meant to respond to the allegations were transferred within 24 hours. These are proofs beyond a reasonable doubt about the patronage of those in power,” he maintained.
Pointing out that the illegal supply of arecanut from across the border has drastically impacted the overall income of farmers as well as the import duty on the produce resulting in loss of revenue to the state exchequer, Mukul sought necessary action as per law to be taken by the state and the Union governments.