In a scathing attack on the Congress-led government in Meghalaya, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday held Chief Minister Mukul Sangma responsible for the underdevelopment of the state.
Rating the performance of the Mukul Sangma-led government as "zero", the Assam Finance Minister also slammed Sangma as one of the worst-performing Chief Ministers in the north-eastern states.
"There should not be any iota of doubt that we symbolise Sangma as the person who is responsible for the under-development of Meghalaya and there will be no political talks and no question of entertaining him in the BJP," he said.
"Today people's livelihood is at stake following the coal ban and nobody is concerned about livelihood, there is no expansion of education, health in districts of the state," Sarma told journalists after addressing the BJP's state executive meeting.
Slamming the Congress government for its failure to set up state's own medical and government colleges, the BJP leader said: "Where is the medical college in Meghalaya? Where is the state university and you have only two government-owned colleges. I think he is not performing at all."
"I am sorry. I will rate him at zero. When you don't see a medical college, a university and a good engineering college in 10 years of rule -- rating him from 1 to 10 would be disservice," he said.
Sarma, who is also the Chairman of North East Democratic Alliance -- a non-Congress alliance, said the BJP will also file a chargesheet to expose the wrong-doings of Mukul Sangma-led government.
"The chargesheet will reflect the complete mismanagement of governance, corruptions, under-development and also complicity of the Congress leadership in Meghalaya," he said.
Ruling out the induction of the incumbent Meghalaya Chief Minister into the BJP, Sarma said: "Under no circumstances he (Sangma) will be admitted into the BJP. I should not be unfair to him; he has not even applied for his membership in the party also. Till Sangma loses his (assembly) seat in the next election; none of us will meet him."
The BJP leader even exuded confidence that Chief Minister, his brother Zenith M. Sangma, who is Sports and Youth Affairs Minister and his wife Dikkanchi D. Shira will lose the assembly election which is likely to be held in February-March next year.
When asked whether the BJP would ask Sangma to merge with the saffron in case of a hung assembly in Meghalaya, Sarma said: "My own assessment will vote for Modi and development and we will form our government. If at all that situation arises, we have our friends in Meghalaya who are known for anti-Congress principles for decades."
"Why do we have to go Sangma? Our idea is to ensure the way Sangma's wife lost in the Tura Lok Sabha bye-election, his bother and Sangma should also lose the elections. We will work 24 hours to ensure Sangma does not get elected as MLA at all and you should forget him of even forming the next government."
--IANS
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