State Congress president Celestine Lyngdoh has slammed the Conrad Sangma government over the expenditure of Rs 400 crore it claims to have spent in tackling Covid-19.
Speaking to Highland Post today, Lyngdoh said Manipur has spent just Rs 60 crore in fighting the disease despite having higher Covid-19 infections and fatalities.
“What differences are there between Manipur and Meghalaya that Meghalaya spent more than six times the amount that Manipur did in fighting Covid-19 and still cannot even prevent the spread of the cases?” Lyngdoh asked.
As per the latest figures, Manipur has witnessed more than twice as many Covid-19 infections (22,000 to Meghalaya’s 10,791) and more than twice as many deaths (224 to 102).
“This only shows that something somewhere is very wrong and even if we cannot pinpoint this exactly, it is obvious that it has been mismanaged,” Lyngdoh said.
“Where has all this huge expenditure gone since all those who have partnered with the government to combat Covid-19 in the State have not been paid till date?” he asked.
The State Congress chief also rubbished claims made by the NPP regarding possible exodus of Congress MLAs before the 2023 Assembly elections.
“There is no truth in the claims made by the NPP. Everything is well within the Congress and all our legislators are united and intact,” Lyngdoh said.
When asked if Congress will return to power in 2023, Lyngdoh said that this will entirely depend on the people, though he termed the performance of the present government as “all big talk and no action”.
“From 2018 onwards the people have forgotten what to expect because they have lost hope and Congress is much better than this NPP-led government,” he added.
