Lying has become a hallmark of MDA Govt: AITC

SHILLONG, OCT 11: The opposition All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) national spokesperson Saket Gokhale on Tuesday said openly lying to the people of Meghalaya has become a hallmark of the NPP-led Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government.

“This has come to an embarrassing point where ministers in the MDA government don’t think twice before openly lying in front of the media with the hope that the people will not realize and take their word at face value,” Gokhale said in a letter to cabinet minister and NPP leader James K Sangma.

This came a day after James had asked the opposition to do its proper homework before making alleging the NPP of failing to file its election expenditure report for the 2018 Assembly elections and said that AITC cannot claim to be voice of people just by hijacking some of the MLAs into its fold.

Gokhale however said the opposition is determined to ensure that the people of Meghalaya know the truth and that they’re not cheated by the falsehoods peddled by the state’s ministers.

He further reminded that in 2020  when James was the power minister, the government had issued a tender for installing smart electricity meters in households across Meghalaya.

Of the contracts awarded, the winning bidder was a consortium consisting of Chinese smart meter company Inhemeter.

Stating that the AITC has voiced concerns that installing chinese smart meters was a major security risk as these meters can be hacked, Gokhale said he had written a letter to the Deputy Chief Minister on July 29, this year and in response, he told a hallmark lie that the REC Ltd under the Govt of India is the technical agency for smart electricity meters and it will check whether this material is genuine or not.

He however said, “On February 25, 2021, (more than a year before the above comments by Tynsong), you as the Power Minister had proudly tweeted a picture of the Chinese Inhemeter smart meter that was installed at your own residence.”

He further asked, “Could you please, therefore, explain how there was a Chinese Inhemeter Smart Meter installed at your residence in February 2021 when the Deputy CM claimed in July 2022 that these meters are yet to be approved by REC/Govt of India?”

The AITC leader reiterated in the letter that the NPP has not filed its mandatory election expenditure reports with the Election Commission of India for the Assembly Elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Mizoram for the year 2018, for Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand for the year 2019, for Bihar for the year 2020, for Assam, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal for the year 2021, and for Lok Sabha Elections, 2019. The NPP was supposed to file these within 75 days of Assembly elections and 90 days of Lok Sabha elections.

He said the Election Commission of India had issued multiple notices to NPP but till today it has not submitted these reports to the ECI.

“In your statement, you spoke about “doing homework”. What does it say when a national party like NPP openly hides its election expenditure from the people of Meghalaya as well as the Election Commission of India for over 4.5 years? It is beyond hilarious that “homework” is required for this.

The truth remains that the NPP remains committed to misleading the people of Meghalaya as well as indulging in shady corrupt practises whether it be in the appointment or awarding of tenders to favorite contractors or with filing its mandatory election expenditure reports,” he stated in the letter.

Meanwhile, Gokhale said the entire state cabinet has given frivolous excuses to not engage in a debate purely out of the fear that these issues of misgovernance and corruption will get openly exposed.

Offering an alternate suggestion, he said the opposition is ready to send point-by-point questions about the issues of misgovernance and corruption in the MDA government.

“You can, at your leisure, issue a written response/clarification to the issues raised by us. Since we’re now making it easy and convenient for you, we hope that your govt will not shy away from this offer especially if it has nothing to hide. Do let us know,” Gokhale stated in the letter.

By Our Reporter