Shillong,Feb 21: NPP national vice president and deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said there is no region-wise arrangement as to which MLA from the party will lead the government if elected to power.
“No arrangement was made at all,” Tynsong replied when reporters wanted to know whether this time the chief minister will be from Khasi and Jaintia Hills regions of the state.
He said the leader will be elected by the newly elected NPP MLAs immediately after counting on March 2.
Tynsong was projected as a chief minister face in the last 2018 Assembly polls. Asked as to what went wrong when he was not made chief minister of the state, Tynsong however said, “That I think you know better. Again, I saw recently they replayed that video when our late UDP president Donkupar Roy said we are going to form the government provided that Conrad K Sangma is the chief minister. Okay it has ended.”
Tynsong slams MDA partners
He slammed the double standard of the MDA coalition partners who criticised the government in the name of corruption and issues related to signing of border pact with Assam.
BJP and UDP leaders were vocal against corruption under the MDA with even the saffron party threatening to pull out of the government which did not happen.
According to Tynsong, the parties should have pulled out of the government if they were not happy with the performance of the MDA.
The MDA partners in their respective manifestos assured to review the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the Assam government on the six areas of difference out of the 12.
Tynsong said he was shocked to see such a promise being made by the coalition partners because “every step taken we had consulted each and every partner in the Cabinet”.
He also reminded that an all party meeting was also convened by the NPP-led state government before signing the MoU on March 29, last year. The government had also held meetings with the autonomous district councils and members of the NGOs.
No scam in land purchase
Tynsong denied the allegation made by the Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma on Mawpdang land scam involving over Rs 140 crore and said a leader who spends so much time in alleging other political parties only shows signs of his downfall.
“It is not a scam. How can you say a scam? What scam is he (Mukul) talking about? The procedure is there. As I said to you when we acquired , the assessment was done by the district collector, by revenue. It is not that it was just blindly done by me or by Conrad but the procedures are in place. Then step by step it comes from the urban affairs and then it goes to the revenue department and then it comes to the cabinet and then we approve it,” Tynsong said.
Mukul had claimed that the MDA government has been exposed of corruption and demanded immediate probe into an alleged land scam at Mawpdang involving financial discrepancies amounting to over Rs 140 crore.
