SHILLONG, FEB 10: AITC MP from West Bengal Derek O’Brien on Friday said the National People’s Party (NPP) is the “pipe” to bring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) into Meghalaya.
“We all know that they (NPP) are the pipe of the BJP. They are the pipe to bring the fascist, anti-constitutional BJP into Meghalaya…,” O’Brien told reporters.
He was reacting to the allegations made by the NPP leaders that Mukul Sangma and his team will join the BJP after the assembly elections are over.
The AITC parliamentary party leader also asked the NPP to keep its flock in order and said, “Who will join where…first keep your flock in order then we will see. Don’t get so hassled about the MYE Card and the We Card because these are all very powerful realities, which are around.”
Asked if the party has decided with whom it will partner after the elections, the Rajya Sabha MP said that the TMC will partner with the people of Meghalaya.
“We have decided who our partners are and I think we are very clear who our partners are and with that focus in mind that our partners are that is why we are focused on what we have to offer to the people of Meghalaya. We made up our minds that TMC Meghalaya will partner with the people of Meghalaya nothing more, nothing less,” he said.
Stating that the TMC respects all its opponents, O’Brien said, “We are not arrogant, so each party can say what they want to say. We are here to say that we have a mission for Meghalaya. We have presented our agendas for Meghalaya and we have people like Charles Pyngrope, Mukul Sangma, George Lyngdoh and many others. We are doing our best because we actually believe we have something to offer to the state.”
Commenting on the Congress’ five commitments towards a five star Meghalaya, the AITC leader said, “Every political party has a democratic right to offer whatever they have to offer in a manifesto. I have two things to say – one is imitation is the best form of flattery and two is I have just come from Delhi and I have been there for the last 10 days, so the less we say about the other parties, the better.”
The TMC further slammed the NPP-led MDA government for its multiple transgressions including rice scam, smart meter scam, police vehicle scam, and the infamous Assembly dome collapse among other things.
It also presented the compilation of the parliamentary speeches made by TMC MPs concerning various issues of Meghalaya such as the inclusion of the Garo and Khasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, attack on Christian institutions, scams in Meghalaya, illegal coal mining and lack of development in Meghalaya and Northeast.
O’brien said that the compilation of parliamentary proceedings tell their own stories.
“To be very truthful, we had four-five issues but we did tell our colleagues here that we may not be able to raise more than one or two issues but this time we made it a point to raise every issue and I say this with all humility but with a lot of pride that the TMC delivers,” he said.
Questioning the failure of the other national parties to raise issues concerning Meghalaya, the Rajya Sabha MP said, “What were the other national parties doing? Parliament is on for 10 days. I challenge any national or regional party to show you two minutes of any of their MPs raising a single issue, an open challenge. Nobody did.”
“We are committed to the state. We didn’t do Meghalaya a favor. We didn’t do the North East a favour. It was our duty to raise these issues. These are very serious issues. Some issues don’t only affect Meghalaya or the North East but go beyond that,” he added.
With regards to the allegations that the TMC had failed to implement the various schemes in West Bengal, O’Brien claimed that the health card of West Bengal has been copied by the central government.
“We think it is great that the Centre copied from the state. All these schemes have been running. That is why Modi and Shah have been spending two months campaigning in Bengal. After two months campaigning the TMC in Bengal still won almost three-fourth majority because these schemes are off the ground. 93% of schools in West Bengal have midday meals. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? That is a good thing. My question to the government here is how come only 49% of schools in Meghalaya have midday meals. We promise you in 100 days along with the other promises we will work towards taking up the numbers of midday meals up to 90% and these are not about one state, these are good schemes,” he said.
Taking a jibe at the BJP MPs who were giving speeches about women empowerment in Parliament, O’Brien said, “Why don’t you try and emulate what we have done. Bring the women’s reservation Bill, send 33% of women MPs to parliament. By the way, Mamata Banerjee is TMC and it doesn’t need a women reservation bill, guess why because we don’t need 33% Bill. 37% of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs are already women.”
By Our Reporter
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