Agriculture Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh made it clear today that it was thanks to him that subsidised fertilisers were reintroduced to Meghalaya.
In 2014, the then Congress Party-led government scrapped the subsidies as it wanted the state to go organic. However, the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance administration reinstated them last year.
The fertiliser subsidies had become a bit of a topic of political conversation lately as claims and counterclaims were made.
Today, Lyngdoh said that a batch of fertiliser has reached Meghalaya and he took credit for their reintroduction, saying that he had gone to New Delhi and met the relevant Union minister over the matter.
Lyngdoh is looking to hold on to his Mawkynrew seat on a People’s Democratic Front (PDF) ticket. The party had won four seats in the 2018 election but two of its sitting MLAs recently defected. Nevertheless, he is confident about the PDF’s chances this time around.
About his own record, Lyngdoh said he has brought in development for his constituents and pledged more in the future.
On the accusations of corruption on the part of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance, of which the PDF is a member, he said that his party had nothing to do with illegalities but always spoke up against it.
However, the PDF could well end up working with the same coalition partners after these polls depending on the situation.
When asked of the Rs 5 crore that he earlier claimed had been offered to him by the NPP, he said, “I’m not a man who can be bought or sold and become someone’s puppet but a person who stands by his principles to serve the people.”
