Staff Reporter
SHILLONG:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had to cancel his election rallies in Shillong on February 21 due to inclement weather.
He was scheduled to address an election rally in Gorkha Pathshala under West Shillong and another at Golf Link under Pynthorumkhrah constituencies.
This left many of those who attended the rally with the hope to hear him speak disappointed.
According to sources, Shah landed in Guwahati, but could not come to Shillong due to bad weather.
“The Union Home Minister’s flight could not land at the Umroi airport due to bad weather despite repeated attempts,” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said.
Shah tried taking a helicopter from the Guwahati airport in order to meet the people at the public meetings.
“However, the weather did not permit that either. Amit Shah ji then addressed the crowd over phone and sought their support for the BJP. He apologised for not being there and promised to come and meet them again soon,” the party said.
Meanwhile, various leaders of the BJP spoke at the two public rallies in Shillong.
The rallies were addressed by BJP leaders and candidates MariahomKharkrang, SanborShullai, Ernest Mawrie and A L Hek.
All of them expressed their confidence and faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and were united in stating that only the BJP can give clean and development-oriented government that Meghalaya needs and deserves.
Also speaking at the rally were Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs John Barla and BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra.
Patra spoke about how the BJP is the only party in the country which delivers what it promises. He highlighted how a former prime minister had come to the North East only twice, and that was to cast his vote.
He said that on the other hand, Modi has visited the region almost 60 times, and has given wings to the Act East policy.
Patra said that today NE means the ‘New-Engine’ of growth of India, and the NE was ‘Non-Existent’ under the Congress.
The national spokesperson said the TMC is a corrupt and communal party from Bengal which wants to divide Meghalaya and import citizens.
“For the first time after the TMC’s arrival in the political scene of Meghalaya, we can see political violence during the elections,” he said.
According to Patra – Peace and Prosperity are the two Ps of the BJP that will drive development in Meghalaya, and one can trust only the BJP to bring this to the state.
He also said, the NPP, TMC and Congress also believe in 2 Ps – paisa (money) and pariwar (their own family).
At Golflink, Barla spoke about the inclusive governance and development policies of the Modi-led BJP government.
Barla stated that only the BJP has worked to actually empower the tribals and the minority communities of the state and the country, and have never planned to keep them dependent like the Congress did.
He said that it is the determination of the BJP to ensure that the last person, the most deprived, is uplifted and empowered first, and in the implementation of this vision, the BJP has never and will never discriminate between people on the basis of their age, gender, religion, caste, etc.
A former pastor of the Church, Barla spoke about his humble background and about how Modi elevated him to his current position of responsibility.
He said that the prime minister has started the PM-DevINE scheme and for this a provision of Rs 6,000 crore has also been kept in the Union Budget.
Barla said that there will be no paucity of funds for the growth and development of Meghalaya.