Shillong, Oct 21: Tourism Minister Timothy D Shira has lashed out at Tura MP Saleng Sangma, saying that the latter has changed his tune on the subject of railways now that he is no longer an MLA.
Sangma has added his voice to calls for the railway line, which currently only reaches Mendipathar in North Garo Hills, to go deeper into Garo Hills in order to bring more benefits to the population in terms of trade and transport.
“There have been MLAs who are making the demand for the extension of railways,” Shira said today. “It (Sangma’s demand) is only a repetition. He has no original ideas.”
Shira added that when the MP was a legislator he could have demanded the extension of the railway but “kept silent”.
Recently, the Tura MP urged Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to extend the railway line from Mendipathar up to Jengjal, on the outskirts of Tura, once the Inner Line Permit (ILP) is implemented in Meghalaya.
Sangma placed his demand during a meeting with NFR officials last week.
He also demanded that the Mendipathar railway station should be upgraded into a modern railway station with services of Vande Bharat and other trains to connect Garo Hills with metro cities like Mumbai, New Delhi and Kolkata.
