SHILLONG, Dec 22: The Congress party on Sunday said it is gearing up for a stiff contest with the VPP and the NPP, in that order, in the district council elections scheduled on February 21.
The party believes that the main contest will be with the VPP and with this idea in mind, the party is preparing a strategy on how to deal with the VPP in the upcoming elections.
With regard to the NPP, the Congress believes that the ruling party will pose significant challenges since it will be backed by the entire government machineries and “illegal money”.
“To say which party among the VPP and the NPP is a bigger threat for us is difficult. Every party will try to do their best. NPP is in the ruling and as always they will try to use the ‘illegal money’ which they get from coal and from other sources,” MPCC president Vincent H Pala said, hinting at the recent Gambegre bypoll where accusations were made against the NPP for misutilising the government machinery to secure a win.
He sounded confident that even though the VPP proved to be too good for everyone in the Lok Sabha elections, the MDC elections are different as almost 200 candidates will be in the fray and that will provide more options for voters.
Talking about the UDP, Pala said the regional party would pose challenges but won’t be able to make any dent in the Congress prospect.
‘NPP putting police on a leash’
Pala accused the NPP-led MDA Government of putting the state police on a leash by threatening officials with transfers unless they do their bidding.
“Meghalaya Police was one of the best in the country but as of today they cannot exercise their powers freely. Have you seen how many police officers were transferred recently? It shows the government is not interested in law and order and welfare of the people,” he said.
He also alleged that the wings of the police are clipped so that the state government can continue its illegal activities like coal mining and transportation with ease.
“There is connivance between those in power and those who misuse the power,” he added.
Pala blames BJP for drone intrusions
Talking about the recent Bangladesh drone intrusion, he blamed the BJP government at the Centre for failing to keep the international border secure.
“This is the failure of the central government. The state police have limited resources and are not in a position to detect the drones,” he added.
Reminding that India and Bangladesh shared a cordial relationship, he said the BJP government at the Centre took a lopsided stand and resulting in the present outcome.
“The BJP government has failed to handle the international policy correctly,” he said, accusing the Centre of paying no heed to the issues raised by the opposition parties.
