Shillong, Dec 8: NPP leader James Sangma said the party is ahead in preparation for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, James, who is also the NPP national general secretary in-charge finance, said the party’s sitting Tura MP Agatha K Sangma has already started campaigning. “Of course the fever pitch is yet to come but on the ground lots of campaigning and lots of meetings have already started.”
“At present, the NPP is far ahead not just in terms of the campaign and in terms of outreach but also in terms of the fact that our MP has performed very well in the parliament that she has been extensively touring and taking up issues not just pertaining to Garo Hills but also pertaining to the state of Meghalaya,” he said.
The former Dadenggre legislator criticised the BJP state president Rikman G Momin for being “ill-informed” about the implementation of the centrally sponsored schemes in the Garo Hills region.
On BJP state president expressing dissatisfaction at the performance of Agatha alleging that she has failed to ensure central schemes reach the people of the region, the NPP leader said, “I don’t know which BJP leaders said this but I think unfortunately he is very ill-informed. In terms of the implementation of the centrally sponsored schemes so many are taking place in Garo Hills. It is very easy to criticize people but I believe that any such criticism should be based on facts. Unfortunately, he has not done his homework. He has not done proper research before making such statements because I believe there has not been any kind of stall or slow down in implementation of centrally sponsored schemes.”
Khasi-Garo language issue
On Pala blaming the NPP-led MDA government for delay in inclusion of Khasi and Garo languages in the Eighth Schedule, James said that is factually incorrect.
“We all know Khasi has found its way of course there is no finalisation to this as it has to go to parliament but then it has found its way into the list and Garo for some reasons was at that point of time not found its place in that list but that was rectified as I had just mentioned, our MP Agatha, she went and met central ministers and that was rectified. I think to say that it isn’t being considered is factually incorrect”, he said.
He expressed confidence that Agatha will retain the Tura seat saying “In terms of her performance she is doing extremely well so I don’t really see any kind of cause for concern.”
Shillong seat
He said the candidate for Shillong seat Ampareen Lyngdoh will give its best shot to win the seat and added that she is getting very good response from the public.
“Election is election. There is no need for posturing. We must give our best shot as a party and today we have a very good candidate, who has already started campaigning and she is getting a very good response from the public. We are working hard as a party, as a family and I think we are very hopeful that this will yield good results,” he told reporters.
ILP issue
On the issue of inner line permit (ILP), James said the issue has really not come up in a big way in Garo Hills region.
“We all know that the ILP issue… this was passed as resolution in the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly and this issue is right now pending with the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs so we have to have a little patience and wait for due process to be completed,” he said.
Development equitable
James termed the allegation that developments are only going to Garo Hills region as absurd and said “Anything has to be substantiated by facts and I can tell you with a lot of confidence that it is not true at all. If you look at the amount of development that has taken place all across the state it is taking place in an equitable manner and I think the pace of development has picked up, there is no doubt about that.”
“Today we see a slew of developmental activities taking place in Garo Hills. So when you have this contrast in the past where Garo Hills has been neglected and then suddenly you have development taking place at a very fast pace in Garo Hills, but people can misconstrue that as something of sort of a bias or imbalance but that is not true. I believe that today development is taking place in a very equitable manner,” he added.
