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After ally Bharatiya Janata Party, principal opponent Trinamool Congress has lashed out against the National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya.
The State BJP unit has been accusing Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s NPP, which heads the multi-party Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, of unleashing a “political vendetta” against its vice-president and former extremist Bernard N. Marak, arrested on charges of running a sex racket.
The TMC has now targeted the NPP for “large-scale corruption” in the power sector.
James P.K. Sangma, the Chief Minister’s brother, was the Power Minister of Meghalaya when the graft allegedly happened. He was replaced by Prestone Tynsong, who is also the State’s Deputy Chief Minister.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Meghalaya TMC leader and former Chief Minister Mukul M. Sangma has sought a probe by Central agencies into the purchase of “overpriced” smart meters as well as anomalies in the Saubhagya scheme, a universal electrification initiative.
He said the NPP-led State government purchased 1.8 lakh smart meters at ₹11,242 per meter instead of almost half the price at which such meters are available in the open market. This led to a massive discrepancy of ₹137.55-crore, he added.
The TMC leader pointed out that the supply of the smart meters was awarded to two Indian companies with Inhemeter, a Chinese firm as the joint venture partner. Dealing with a Chinese company defeated the very purpose of the Centre’s idea of “make in India”, he said.
Reacting to the development, Mr. Tynsong said the TMC leader was free to seek the intervention of the Prime Minister. “A committee headed by a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court probed the alleged irregularities and submitted its report. Officials are studying the report,” he added.
The TMC had earlier slammed the Meghalaya government for failing to check the illegal mining and transportation of coal despite orders from the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal.
Mukul Sangma and 11 other Congress MLAs had switched over to the TMC in 2021 to give the Mamata Banerjee-led party a foothold in Meghalaya. The party has claimed to be expanding its base with the 2023 Assembly polls in mind.
