In a setback to the ruling NPP, three of its senior leaders from the plain belt of Garo Hills today resigned from the party and joined the Trinamool Congress.
Among them were NPP State Minority Morcha president and former MDC from Balachanda constituency Sofior Rahman, , social activist Mostopha Kabir and Meghalaya Muslim Welfare Association president Abdul Jolil Sheikh.
The three NPP leaders joined the Trinamool Congress in the presence of party MLA Zenith Sangma, Trinamool Congress State Mahila President Selma D. Shira, State general secretary Mukul Das, and other prominent party leaders at a meeting held at the party’s office in Tura.
After inducting the new members into the party fold, Zenith Sangma launched a scathing attack on the NPP-led MDA government for its failure on all fronts and huge corruption.
“People expected that an educated Chief Minister would actually work well. However, the Chief Minister is running the State like a profit-oriented company. There is no limit to scams and corruption in each and every department,” he added.
Sangma further cornered the MDA government on the abysmal condition of education in the State, and said, “The schools are running without teachers. They only listed 36 schools without teachers in the Assembly but everyone knows that these numbers are far less from reality. The current government is depriving the children of free and compulsory education.”
Sofior Rahman on joining the Meghalaya TMC pointed out that Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has been misleading people about the policies including the FOCUS scheme.
“If 500 people live in one village, only 50 people get the money through NPP’s policies. The rest 450 people are deprived. This is utter misgovernance on the part of the State government,” he said
“I have observed and I can tell you we have to elect Dr. Mukul Sangma as our Chief Minister. Otherwise, there will be no existence of Meghalaya or even Rajabala or Selsella or Phulbari. NPP cheats on the people who work for them day and night.” Rahman added.
Mostopha Kabir after his induction, stated, “I want to convey to the younger generation that with NPP’s rule, Meghalaya would never be able to function properly. NPP is a bad platform for the young generation as they give no value to working. The party runs by the policy of ‘use and throw’. NPP would only use people and then dismiss them. No one can run the State better than Dr. Mukul Sangma in terms of governance and administration.”
Abdul Jolil Sheikh, registering his protest against the NPP, stated, “I visited the Chief Minister multiple times regarding the deteriorating state of education and agriculture but the current situation shows that the present Chief Minister is a failure to provide any kind of development. Even in healthcare, there is no doctor in Rajabala. I wonder why NPP is preventing the people of Rajabala from availing bare minimum health facility.”
