SHILLONG:
Leader of Opposition and TMC candidate from Songsak and Tikrikilla, Dr Mukul Sangma, on February 21, accused the NPP-led MDA government of robbing the state of Rs 140 crore with the purchase of 807 acres of land at Mawpdang Mawkhanu in East Khasi Hills district.
Addressing media persons at the TMC party office in Shillong today, Sangma called MDA the “Meghalaya Deceitful Alliance” for deceiving the villagers of Mawpdang Mawkhanu by purchasing the land from the middlemen at Rs 85 per sq ft amounting to a total of Rs 298.98 crore, while the actual price purchased from the villagers was Rs 45 per sq ft amounting to a total of Rs 158.28 crore – a difference of Rs 140.7 crore.
Stating that the decision to purchase the land was taken by the state cabinet on October 4, 2021, Sangma alleged the Urban Affairs Minister of piloting the project, which was subsequently approved by the Revenue & Disaster Management Minister and later the cabinet.
“The CM, urban affairs and disaster management ministers entered into a criminal conspiracy to rob the state of Rs 140 crore,” Sangma said, adding that the perception created by this government was that “corruption is the order of the day in Meghalaya”.
“They are engaging in all acts to rob the state, to satisfy their swelling greed,” the TMC leader said while urging the Union Home Minister Amit Shah to take cognizance of this case which he nicknamed as “Meghalaya Land Scam”.
“The Union Home Minister alleged the state of being neck-deep in corruption and referred to it as the number one corrupt state in the country, defaming the name of the people of the state,” he added.
Asserting that an immediate investigation should be initiated, Sangma hoped that the Centre would admit this case and send an agency to probe the allegations even as he claimed that there is no dearth of evidence.