SHILLONG, Oct 7: Opposition Trinamool Congress on Friday claimed there was corruption and connivance at the highest level in the construction of the new Assembly building and asked Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to come clean on it.
The party accused the government of taking the office of the Speaker, High Powered Committee (HPC) and the people of the state for a ride.
“The entire construction of the Assembly building, which is one of the temples of democracy, has been compromised. Corruption at the highest level has happened,” Opposition Chief Whip George B Lyngdoh claimed.
He asked Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh, who is also the HPC chairperson, to take note of where and how the office of the Speaker and the HPC were allegedly misled.
The Trinamool leader was reacting to the Speaker’s reported statement that the Assembly Secretariat has no role in the dome’s collapse and as such, the allegation that the project was allotted to disqualified contractor Badri Rai & Co. should be directed at the government and the PWD.
Stating that the HPC’s confidence in the department was compromised, the Opposition Chief Whip said, “The Chief Minister is expected to come clean on this and there is no point of calling for another high level inquiry.”
He reminded that the High Court of Meghalaya had also observed that the “biggest scam is the inquiry itself.”
“It is one more instance and one more trophy of corruption that should be handed over to the government for taking the people, the office of the Speaker, HPC and everybody for a ride as some people are having a joyride at the expense of the people,” he said.
Stating that the government and the office of the Speaker were seen constantly coordinating and monitoring construction in order to meet the September 2022 deadline, the Trinamool leader said the Speaker was, perhaps, constantly misled by the government and the department handling the construction while the HPC was kept in the dark about the “illegalities”.
“It also points to a strong connivance of certain groups which are in fact calling the shots in the department and the government and jacking public resources through ways and means that are hidden from all people in authority,” Lyngdoh said.
He said the project worth over Rs 170 crore to suddenly crumble to dust and the unsuccessful bidders being allowed to take up the construction through “backdoor entry” prove the high level of corruption.
