National People’s Party (NPP) president and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma K Sangma today said he has no role to play in denying permission for the Prime Minister’s rally at the P.A. Sangma Sports Complex in Tura.
Sangma said the accusation made by the BJP was false and that permissions for rallies are given by the Election Commission of India, to which the district administration is adhering to the directive.
“All permissions come from the side of Election Commission of India and based on its direction, the district administration takes action. So there is no say from NPP or my side; dragging our (NPP and my) name into it is completely wrong. Even I haven’t gotten permissions for many of my rallies,” he said.
He said such things happen during the elections but the BJP has made this into a big issue. “But we have already said in the beginning that the stadium has two parts. The first part consists of the Football Stadium, which is ready and it was inaugurated. The other part, which has indoor stadium and swimming pool, is not ready and we have made it clear. Only half is ready and the other part is not ready,” he stated.
Sangma reasoned the possibility of not getting the permission and said, “It is a fact that when PM Modi holds a programme, the crowd will be huge. So, I feel that the district administration may have felt that since it is a natural turf, and if many people come, it will damage the natural turf and also there is no parking there.”
The stadium was inaugurated on December 16, 2022. It is said to be the country’s largest pre-engineered composite stadium and the first natural ground of international standard in the State.
A press release here said that the football ground was inaugurated while the rest of the stadium is still under construction, and components like Indoor Stadiums with Gymnasium, Swimming Pool, Table Tennis Hall, Squash Hall and Badminton Hall among other State-of-the-art facilities would be ready for inauguration by December 2023.
