By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 1: The Congress on Monday warned that the BJP could be hatching a bigger plan by withdrawing from the Lok Sabha polls in Meghalaya and extending support to the NPP in the two parliamentary seats in the state.
Addressing an election rally at Laitumkhrah, Congress candidate and Lok Sabha member, Vincent H Pala claimed that the BJP might stake claim to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Meghalaya by giving up the two Lok Sabha seats like they had done in Nagaland.
According to him, the BJP has realized that they will need to have two-thirds majority even in the Rajya Sabha to ensure that any bill passed by the Lok Sabha gets the approval of the Upper House without any opposition.
He cautioned the people against the BJP’s target of winning 370 seats on its own. “In the last election in 2019, the BJP managed to win 303 seats but failed to get absolute majority. If the party manages to secure 370 seats, they will have absolute majority which will allow them to delete the word ‘Secularism’ from the Constitution. The agenda of the saffron party is to convert India into ‘one nation and one religion’,” Pala warned.
According to him, if the BJP declares India as a Hindu state then it will be no different from the Islamic states like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Iran.
Pala also claimed that the NPP-led MDA Government has not got any special assistance from the Centre despite working together with the BJP.
“Meghalaya was getting special grants during the Congress regime at the Centre. But the BJP government is putting the state at a huge risk by encouraging the state government to take loans from the World Bank, JICA, ADB and various other agencies. The burden will fall on our children to repay these loans,” Pala stated.
No fresh summons
from ED: Pala
Pala on Monday said he has not received any fresh summons from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a case related to a donation of Rs 10 lakh made by him to a trust owned by the Gandhi family.
The case relates to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian, which owns the National Herald newspaper. Pala reportedly admitted to donating money through cheques to the National Herald from his own sources of income.
“I had been summoned so many times by the ED in the past but I have not received any summon in the last 6-7 months. It is possible that they might have closed the case even though the ED has not officially intimated me,” Pala said.
He hoped that the ED is satisfied with his replies he had given after being summoned for questioning.
Asked to comment on the pending CBI case against his poll rival and NPP candidate, Ampareen Lyngdoh he replied that he was not aware of the latest development on this.
“When Ampareen Lyngdoh was in the Congress we tried to work together to ensure that justice is given to every individual. But as of today I am not aware about the latest on the CBI inquiry since I am not following it,” Pala said.