SHILLONG:
The United Democratic Party (UDP), on January 10 termed the Trinamool Congress’ (TMC) pre-poll aggressive campaigns like Women Empowerment (WE) and the Meghalaya Youth Empowerment (MYE) initiatives as mere eyewash, intended to fool voters, “by giving them freebies”.
“Don’t fool people by giving them freebies. My concern is – how long can they sustain this? What if they lose the elections? What then?” UDP leader Jemino Mawthoh told The Meghalayan.
With elections just around the corner, the TMC has been going all out with the launching of different initiatives like WE Card and the MYE Card, which focus on the empowerment of women and youth in the state.
Questioning the timing of launching these initiatives, Mawthoh called out at the TMC and said that these “pre-poll promises are merely intended to buy people’s votes.”
The UDP has also hit out at the ruling National People’s Party (NPP) over the FOCUS+ scheme, questioning the launching of this scheme in the urban areas where the farming community is very less.
“What is the meaning of introducing such schemes towards the end of the term? The people are smart and analytical,” Mawthoh said.
Terming the move as an “election gimmick”, the UDP leader questioned the source of the funds used for this purpose.
“All these months and years, the government has not been able to pay the salaries of the teachers and government employees due to financial difficulties. Now when its term is almost coming to an end, it suddenly has so much money to distribute to the beneficiaries – whose money is this?” he asked.
The UDP, a major partner in the NPP-led coalition government, has been slamming the ruling party over several issues in the last few months.