Shillong, Feb 18: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Saturday downplayed the BJP’s accusations of corruption against the NPP-led MDA government saying the saffron party was in the alliance government for the past five years.
Speaking to reporters at Raj Bhavan after the swearing-in ceremony of Governor Phagu Chauhan (Read: Phagu Chauhan sworn in as Meghalaya Governor), Sangma, in reply to a question on the saffron party’s allegations, said similar allegations were brought against parties in other poll-bound states in the past.
“They (the BJP leaders) make these statements before every election. They were very much part of the government for the last five years,” Sangma said.
On the Congress’s chargesheet that has the mention of 10 scams in Meghalaya, Sangma asked for a specific question. When pointed out that Saubhagya scheme embezzlement was among the scams mentioned, the chief minister replied that an inquiry was carried out into the allegations.
However, the state government never made public any of the inquiry reports. When asked, the chief minister insisted that the reports were made public, “or at least the summary of the reports”.
Sangma was on a blazing campaign trail on Saturday, covering three constituencies — East Shillong where Ampareen Lyngdoh is representing the party, North Shillong where the candidate is Ransom Sutnga and Mylliem where the sitting MLA is Hamletson Dohling. He visited Malki, Oakland and Lawsohtun.
While addressing a campaign meeting of Lyngdoh at Malki Ground, Sangma accused the BJP of trying to bring citizenship bill to Meghalaya and dividing the state on communal lines. When asked him why NPP MP Agatha Sangma had supported the bill in the Lok Sabha in 2019, he said Meghalaya is a Sixth Schedule area and is out of the purview of CAA.
But whether or not the tussle with BJP will spoil the border talks with BJP-governed Assam, Sangma said the border issue was beyond election politics. “As leaders, it is our duty to solve it,” he added.
Earlier at Raj Bhavan, the chief minister said people living in border villages are angry with the Trinamool Congress for making statements that may adversely affect the positive work done by the NPP-led alliance government.
Also read: UDP to scrap border MoU
