AICC spokesperson question BJP’s decision to allot ticket to Bernard
Congress national spokesperson Alka Lamba on Friday slammed the BJP’s top leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for calling Meghalaya the most corrupt state in the country even as she questioned his party’s decision to reward Tura MDC Bernard N Marak, who was arrested for allegedly running a brothel, with a ticket to contest from South Tura.
“I want to tell Amit Shah Meghalaya is not corrupt. The government of Meghalaya which you are a member of is corrupt. We would like to ask Amit Shah the question which he has constantly been avoiding,” Lamba told reporters.
Referring to Marak’s case, she said, “The women and children of Meghalaya want to know while you claim to protect women and talk about ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padao’ you have given a ticket to a man accused under POSCO. A man who has been known to run a brothel in Meghalaya and had run away to UP where he was caught and jailed. Instead of removing him from the party you have rewarded him with a ticket to contest from the BJP.”
“PM has to answer this how can you claim to protect women when you bring such men who exploit women to represent the people of Meghalaya? Modi, Shah, Irani are answerable to the people of Meghalaya, women of Meghalaya, to the girls of Meghalaya,” Lamba added.
Stating that the MDA has become ‘Meghalaya Damaging Alliance’, the AICC spokesperson said, “Some parties have for their greed and self-interest compromised the well-being of the people and pushed the state from development to destruction.”
She also lambasted the MDA for the various scams including the Assembly dome collapse scam, Rs 816 crore Covid scam, Rs 500 MUDA scam, Rs 149 crore Saubhagya scam and others.
Stating that the NITI Aayog Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) finds that Meghalaya is one of the poorest states in the country, she said, “It is ranked 5th poorest in the country and the poorest in the North Eastern part of the country. MPI is a complex index which includes different components such as health, education and income which contributes to a person’s living standards. Unemployment rates are very high in the state and this issue is compounded by the huge drug problem among youth in the country.”
She further alleged that the BJP government has increased hunger in the country India now ranks 107 out of 121 countries. India ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99).
“Modi has called Social security for the poor as rewadi while Amit Shah has promised support for people of Meghalaya in the form of income to single mothers. Does this not reek of hypocrisy? On one hand you make fun of social security measures and on the other you make lofty promises in your manifesto which is proof that nothing from the BJP manifesto will be fulfilled,” she said.
“BJP is claiming they are a double engine government but they are actually a double trouble government. The double trouble is unemployment and inflation,” she added.
She said that people want a change Congress has come back in Himachal. In my recent visit to Tripura after spending 7 days and attending dozens of meetings people have for a change like Himachal. Thanks to the people of Himachal for trusting us and bringing us to power.
Expressing confidence that Congress will come back to power in Meghalaya, Lamba said that the Congress is the alternative and the only alternative for Meghalaya
“The NPP led MDA government and their alliance partner BJP have a lot to answer to the people of Meghalaya on the high rates of unemployment faced by the youth of Meghalaya. Both the NPP and BJP manifesto for 2023 have promised jobs for the youth but what were they both doing during the last five years?”
She said in their 2018 manifesto NPP promised employment generation programs for the youth and today we are seeing some of the highest rates of unemployment in the state. So what has the government done in the past five years?
The high rate of Multidimensional poverty reveals that the people of Meghalaya have remained poor because of a lack of employment which leads to a lack of purchasing power and therefore poverty.
“People of Meghalaya must remember that BJP and NPP make false promises if they could not generate employment in the last five years as promised in their old manifesto, they will never be able to fulfill the promises made in the new manifesto,” the AICC leader concluded.
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