With the Congress now left without a single legislator in the Meghalaya Assembly, state party chief Vincent H Pala has mounted a scathing attack on the ruling National People’s Party, National People’s Party (NPP)-led government is “totally dependent” on illegal coal cartel money for “horse trading” to maintain its political dominance in the state. His remarks come in the wake of Congress losing its last legislator in the Assembly after the exit of Ronnie V Lyngdoh.
Pala, taking direct aim at the NPP-BJP alliance, said, “It is an open secret there is nothing to hide, if you take one truck of coal from Jaintia Hills to Guwahati, you have to pay huge money for that, so it is an open secret that all the coal has been sold openly. So I think there’s nothing to hide. Only thing, maybe the Press, they don’t do a proper home work. I think this was highlighted by Dr. Celestine Lyngdoh in the assembly also. And now maybe, what I came to know that those people who talk very big in the assembly, now, they are part of all those cartels. So that’s why I think now is an open secret that the illegal coal has openly sold. What they (Minister) spoke about because of rain coal vanishes these are only excuse. Everybody knows so much rain is not there this.”
Accusing the ruling alliance of being knee-deep in the illegal coal trade, Pala asserted, “Not only the big names even the small names all the people in the government are involve in the coal cartel right from the functionaries of NPP and BJP together all are involved in that. Rather they are totally depend on this for their readings and horse trading and all they are depending on the illegal coal money.”
