DIMAPUR: Meghalaya BJP leaders are unhappy with the alternate site allocated to the PM's rally. They claim that the site is not only located 5 km away from Tura town but there is also poor accessibility. They sniffed that the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) was jittery over the “wave in favour of the BJP”.
The Meghalaya government had denied permission for a rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a stadium in the Tura town of the state enraged the BJP.
The PM was scheduled to hold the election rally at the PA Sangma Stadium in the West Garo Hills district on February 24. However, the state’s Sports Department did not grant permission on the grounds that it is not fit for such an event. The stadium was inaugurated on December 16 last year.
“The PA Sangma Stadium is not under the control of district administration. It is still under construction and therefore, the application was forwarded to Sports Department, Shillong by the RO (returning officer) concerned,” an official statement said.
It also said that the Sports Department communicated that it would not be fit to host such a big gathering as materials are at the site and construction is underway and the same might involve safety issues.
“As such, an alternate venue of Alotgre Cricket Stadium is being considered,” the statement added.
BJP national secretary Rituraj Sinha also criticised the state government on the issue. The BJP is an ally of the NPP and a constituent of the state’s ruling coalition.
Recently, the BJP slammed the Conrad K Sangma government for inaugurating the half-constructed stadium.
“The project was funded by the central government but there is no mention of it. The stadium has not even been completed but the state government inaugurated it. This is a political gimmick,” Union minister John Barla had said.
After inaugurating the project, the CM said, “The football stadium and the two Indoor stadiums have been built over a combined area of over 17,000 sq meters. The indoor stadiums with gymnasium, swimming pool, table tennis hall, squash hall and badminton hall will be ready for inauguration by December 2023.”
NPP chief and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has dismissed BJP's "false accusation"
Asserting that he has no role to play in the denial of permission for the PM's rally, he said all permissions for rallies are given by the Election Commission (EC) and the district administration is adhering to the directives issued by the EC.
“All permissions come from the side of the EC 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) names into it is completely wrong. Even I haven’t gotten permission for many of my rallies,” Sangma said.