SHILLONG, Feb 10: With the district council elections round the corner, corruption seems to have become the buzzword of opposition parties who are leaving no stone unturned to hit out at the NPP-led MDA 2.0 government. Fed up with the plethora of allegations against the government, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Monday went on the offensive, challenging the opposition parties to file an FIR and produce evidence of corruption against the ruling side.
“Why you are shying away from filing an FIR. I have heard them saying that they cannot file an FIR against people who are in the government,” Tynsong said, terming the allegations as mere words without substance.
He was addressing an election rally at Laitlyngkot-Nongkynrih to drum up support for his nephew and NPP candidate Rahboklang Tynsong for the Langkyrdem-Laitkroh constituency.
Prestone questioned why these people are keeping silent after making such accusations.
“Their allegation does not hold water. As the Deputy Chief Minister I need to abide by the rules. If I have done anything wrong I am liable to face legal action,” he said.
Restraining himself from naming the opposition parties which came up with the allegations, he said that they are even claiming that money is floating under the bed of the chief minister and the deputy CM.
According to him, some parties have got into the habit of leveling allegations against him and party MLA, Gavin Mylliem.
“It is not a healthy trend to make such false accusations without any evidence or proof,” Tynsong said, urging his political opponents to first look at their own sins before pointing fingers at others.
Allegations of corruption against the NPP-led MDA government are not a new development. For a greater part of the MDA 1.0 rule, various opposition parties regularly came up with the issue of illegal coal mining and transportation to pin the NPP as a corrupt party. The issue of corruption and the promise of clean politics were used as mantras by certain parties to seek votes ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections. Despite the NPP-led MDA storming back to power, the allegations have continued.
On several occasions earlier, Prestone had dared the opposition parties to file an FIR against him and the departments he is holding if there are any instances of corruption.
Some parties like the Voice of the People Party (VPP) had vowed to take up the issue of corruption at the national level and assured to demand investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the corruption cases in Meghalaya.
With the ADC polls scheduled for February 21, the opposition parties are trying one more time to corner the ruling side in an effort to win the elections.
The government has time and again, given itself a clean chit while assuring that there was no corruption within the rank and file of the government.
It remains to be seen if the issue of corruption and the confirmation of illegal coal mining in Garo Hills helps the opposition parties to get the better of the NPP at the hustings or whether the NPP manages to sail through in both the KHADC and the JHADC.
