GUWAHATI:
It was BJP-ruled Assam that saw an influx of immigrants, said Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate from 10-Jirang constituency, Sunmoon Marak while exposing the saffron party’s hypocrisy for failing to bring their own house in order while falsely accusing others of the influx from Bangladesh.
Marak was reacting to the remark of BJP candidate Riya Sangma who claimed that Meghalaya would see an influx of Bangladeshi immigrants if TMC came to power.
“I am not talking about the prospects of Jirang, but of the entire Meghalaya. If the TMC comes to power, it will lead to more influx from Bangladesh to the state,” Sangma had said in an informal chat with The Meghalayan on February 15.
Riya believes that the influx issue will be resolved if the saffron party comes to the power. “The previous governments have done nothing to stop influx into the state. Only BJP can stop it,” Riya said.
“They are falsely claiming that TMC will bring the immigrants from Bangladesh but don’t they know that there are many Bangladesh immigrants in BJP-ruled Assam?” Marak said in a statement here on February 17.
Elaborating on the draconian Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Marak reiterated that it was BJP that brought in the Bill that allows Indian citizenship for persecuted minorities from six neighbouring countries. While Trinamool Congress vehemently opposed it, it was the NPP that voted in favour of the Bill.
“When TMC MPs were protesting against the law in 2019, it was NPP MP Agatha Sangma, who voted in favour of the Bill that allowed Indian citizenship for persecuted minorities from Bangladesh and five other neighbouring countries. It was only after facing backlash in Meghalaya, they pretended to demand its repeal as an empty gesture,” Marak said.
Slamming Sangma’s baseless assertions that only the BJP could solve the problems of border MoU, Marak said, “Meghalaya TMC leaders such as Mukul Sangma, Charles Pyngrope, and George B Lyngdoh along with our MPs from TMC have been demanding to abolish the border MoU. Our leaders have been tirelessly fighting against the same issue.”
“People of Maikhuli, Pilingkata, and Ranipara from the Jirang constituency have been struggling due to the ongoing border issue yet the chief minister did not bother to come and meet them for once. Due to the nefarious nexus of the BJP and the Conrad-led government, the land of Meghalaya is now part of Assam,” Marak also said.
“The constant targeting of Trinamool Congress shows that we have done something which the MDA regime could not do. Six months ago, they dismissed our political hold saying we have no base. Now, their day starts and ends with attacks against TMC. They are scared that the people of Meghalaya are supporting the only political alternative in the state i.e. the Meghalaya Trinamool Congress,” he added.