Rajnath Singh terms Meghalaya's development failure as 'cruel joke'

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday termed alleged lack of development in Meghalaya as a 'cruel joke' and said that if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is voted to power, the state will usher in an era of development.

Singh coined Meghalaya as a 'home of clouds where development should be put in place like a rainfall'.

"Chief Minister Mukul Sangma's government has failed to utilize the sanctioned funds for the state," the Union Minister said at an election rally here.

"In a state where people have no access to electricity and water till today, development will remain a far cry if Congress continues to reign Meghalaya. However, if BJP is given the mandate, we promise that power will be provided to every household and villages within two years", he said.

Taking credit for newly inaugurated Tura, Shillong National Highway, he said, "Centre is pumping money for Meghalaya's road maintenance but the state has failed in its duties".

Singh further said people have to walk for several hours to fetch a bucket of water in the hills of Meghalaya, when the state boost of highest rainfall in the country.

"If BJP was voted to power every household would be provided with clean drinking water," he added.

He cautioned the people that if BJP fails to form the government, Meghalaya would find it difficult to implement the ambitious health insurance scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It is unfortunate that Meghalaya has failed to spend the health budget which was sanctioned to the state", he added saying, "BJP will ensure full transparency in implementation of different central programmes".

He also termed that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) enquiry would be constituted on various scams in Meghalaya, which has taken place during Mukul Sangma's regime in Meghalaya.

"Meghalaya has failed to provide security to its citizens as out of 57 police stations, only 39 were active and functional," Singh asserted.

He also talked about Bangladeshi immigration in Meghalaya and said that BJP's priority will be to further ensure that the border is secured and ban on National Green Tribunal (NGT) will be revoked.

Rajnath also addressed an election rally at Tura to campaign for South Tura candidate Billykid A. Sangma.

At Songsak, Singh campaigned for Rongjeng candidate Rikman Momin, Williamnagar candidate Santosh R. Marak and Songsak candidate Thomas N. Marak.

The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly election will be held on 27 February 2018.