‘First ask CBI to come, then withdraw’: Ally NPP jabs BJP over its exit plan

Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said the BJP probably wants to play it safe and first pull out of the MDA government before bringing in the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation

SHILLONG: Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong on Tuesday reacted sharply to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) plan to exit the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government led by Conrad K Sangma, saying the BJP was welcome to quit the alliance.

Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said the chief minister Conrad K Sangma-led MDA government and his stand was that the BJP was welcome to pull out of the government. (ANI)

“The MDA government under the leadership of chief minister Conrad K Sangma and my stand is very clear that if they want to pull out of the MDA government, they are welcome but it seems it is already late,” Tynsong said on Tuesday, his party’s response to the BJP in-charge of Meghalaya M Chuba Ao who on Saturday spoke about plans to exit the MDA led by Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party.

Chuba Ao told reporters on Saturday that the BJP will decide on exiting the MDA within a month and, according to news agency PTI, that the party was studying reports on the various corruption allegations against the Sangma government and the CBI will handle the charges once they acquire all the papers.

It is the corruption accusation and holding out the threat of a CBI probe that has stung the NPP. To be sure, the NPP and Conrad Sangma have already made it clear that the party will contest the assembly elections next year on its own as it has done in the past. Also, the NPP-led coalition has the support of 48 MLAs in the assembly; the halfway mark is 60.

Responding to the BJP’s plan to exit the alliance, Tynsong said the BJP probably wanted to play it safe and first pull out of the alliance before bringing in the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation.

Tynsong, who is also the NPP vice president, continued.

“In fact, I would like to advise him why not you first ask ED and CBI to be in place. Why should you unnecessarily pull out if you are clean like a saint? If that is the case, why do you have to pull out and then again send CBI or ED”.

Congress spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said the NPP stand that it will opt for post-poll alliances was an opportunist stance and exposed the party’s double-faced attitude.

“That means to win elections we want the people’s votes… Just to make them believe that we are not with the BJP, but after you win the people’s trust, you will again join them after the polls,” she said.