Congress bereft of election issues in Meghalaya: NPP

The National People's Party (NPP) on Friday said the ruling Congress in Meghalaya was bereft of issues to fight the February 27 assembly polls, after Chief Minister Mukul Sangma accused the tribal-centric party of being funded by the BJP.

However, the opposition NPP, which is hoping to form government after the votes, did not rule out forming government with the Congress in Meghalaya.

"We are a party of our own, and we have our own ideology. I find it ridiculous when a leader like the Mahila Congress president (Sushmita Dev) was saying that NPP is BJP in time of elections," Meghalaya NPP President, Wanwei Roy Kharlukhi, told journalists.

"The Chief Minister was saying we are funded by the BJP as if he is the treasurer of the BJP, because only the treasurer of the BJP will know about the money coming and going out of the BJP," he said.

Kharlukhi said the Congress has been trading such allegations against the NPP as they are bereft of issues.

"I feel that the Congress is insulting the electorate of Meghalaya who will not accept such ridiculous idea. We appeal to the voters to vote for us," he said.

"Our mission document will be like a contract between the people of Meghalaya and the NPP," Kharlukhi said, adding that the Chief Minister was making such statements "because he has nothing to showcase".

To a query if the NPP can also work with the Congress, Kharlukhi said, "The Congress here is our opponent. When the need arises we don't rule out in future. But we are not working with anybody here because we are sure that this time we are getting an absolute majority and we are sure that we don't have to work with anyone."

Hitting out at the Congress-led government for its "failure" to ensure development, Kharlukhi quoted a survey which claimed that Meghalaya ranked at the bottom in various sectors among the small states.

"In general, Meghalaya ranked 10 out of 10 small states. If we look at the overall ranking, it is really a pity that Meghalaya ranks at the bottom. But if you compare with other small states they are better than Meghalaya," he said.

"Shillong was once upon a time an education hub of the North East but today the state is ranked number nine on education, and the saddest part is, infrastructure which we may say is the foundation of the economy of the state ranked at number 10. That's why they have no issue to go to the public with and they brought out these petty issues (BJP is NPP and NPP is BJP)," Kharlukhi said.

Asked if the NPP was avoiding the BJP in Meghalaya for the sake of political convenience, Kharlukhi said, "We fought against the BJP in Manipur too and we are fighting anywhere against any party. Like I told you, we were with the UPA in the past but we fight against the Congress here."

But the NPP has never been with the UPA in the past, except when late Purno A. Sangma was with the NCP.

"We were in the NCP that time, but we are the same people now in NPP. We came out of the NCP due to difference of opinion," Kharlukhi said

--IANS

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