The BJP chief addresses rally in West Garo Hills, Meghalaya CM Mukul Sangma’s stronghold; development will be his party’s biggest priority in NE.
New Delhi: BJP national president Amit Shah Saturday claimed chief minister Mukul Sangma had held back Meghalaya for 15 years as other states moved ahead.
Addressing a rally in West Garo Hills, Sangma’s stronghold, Shah said the Congress government failed to spend 76 per cent of the health budget leaving the state with scant infrastructure of hospitals, doctors and dispensaries.
He also highlighted what he termed as Congress’ ‘failures’ on various fronts.
With this public meeting in Tikrikilla, West Garo Hills, Shah kicked off the BJP’s campaign for the forthcoming assembly elections in three Northeastern states — Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland.
Shah said development will be BJP’s biggest priority in Northeast. He said that the Centre has spent Rs 5,300 crore to improve road connectivity in the region. He also gave credit to PM Narendra Modi for giving Meghalaya its first railway line in 2014.
Despite the high footfall of tourists in the scenic hilly state, infrastructure for tourism is largely absent, he lamented.
Shah said Modi is the first PM in 40 years to attend the plenary meet of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in Shillong.
“After the PM’s visit, a roster was prepared for ministers to visit different states every 15 days,” he added.
MoS tourism and culture K.J. Alphons reassured the electorate in the Christian majority state there are no threats to their religion and culture under the current BJP government. He said Modi believes in “sabka saath, sabka vikas”.
“Has one church in the country been burnt? Has anyone thrown one stone at any church in India? Let me ask you. The answer is clearly no. Modi has protected everybody in this country,” Alphons said.
Speaking on the same occasion, Assam minister and convener of North East Democratic Alliance Himanta Biswa Sarma appealed to the people of Meghalaya to vote out the Mukul Sangma government, which he alleged, siphoned off public funds, depriving the state of development.
“If you go to the BJP states, you will see the government officials have received Seventh Pay Commission salaries. But in Meghalaya, even the school teachers are struggling to get their regular salary,” he said.
Sarma promised that if BJP wins in Meghalaya, a new medical college would be built in the Garo Hills within six months and provide government jobs to unemployed youth.
The BJP aims to bag 40 out of 60 seats in Meghalaya in the upcoming election.
Shah will visit Ambassa and Udaipur in the Left-ruled Tripura on Sunday and is expected to visit Nagaland on 8 January.