Guwahati: TMC Legislature Party Leader Mukul Sangma blasted the state administration on Tuesday for the purported Meghalaya Land Scam in Mawpdang, which involved financial irregularities totaling more than 140 crores.
Sangma demanded an immediate investigation into the scam on behalf of the TMC Meghalaya and demanded that the MDA administration answer for the alleged flagrant misappropriation of public funds.
The allegations were revealed during a news conference that was held on Tuesday at the State Party Office in Lower Lachaumiere by Meghalaya TMC State Vice-President James Lyngdoh, Meghalaya TMC Students’ Union President Bansharailang Pyngrope, and TMC Legislative Party Leader Mukul Sangma.
“The MDA – which I will refer as Meghalaya Deceitful Alliance – has once again engaged in the modus operandi of looting the state through purchase of around 807 acres of land in Mawkhanu village of Mawpdang. The government had the middleman purchase the land, dupe the innocent land owners and villagers at the throwaway price of ₹45 per square feet, and then made a payment of ₹85 per square feet to the middleman,” said Sangma.
“The rates were decided by the cabinet on the 4th October, 2021. The Minister-In-Charge for Urban Affairs piloted this proposal and [it was] appropriately approved by the Department of Revenue. All cabinet items are approved by the Chief Minister. Therefore, the documents show that the three persons – the CM, Revenue Minister, and Urban Affairs minister – have entered into a criminal conspiracy to rob the state of such a huge amount of money – Rs 140 crores – which could have been given to the innocent land owners,” added Mukul Sangma, while unmasking the unholy nexus between the NPP-led MDA government and the middlemen of the state.
Mukul Sangma blasted the Conrad Sangma-led MDA government for depriving low-income people of their lands and demanded that the Central government take notice of the situation.
“While addressing an election rally, Union Home Minister Amit Shah went hammer and tongs alleging that the state is active in corruption. He referred Meghalaya as the number 1 corrupt state in the country. This has defamed the name of the state and its people. Corruption is not our way of life. Our people are not that greedy. I would urge him to take immediate cognisance of this alleged corruption. Let there be immediate investigation into this (massive land scam)” he said.
The Leader of the Opposition added that the NPP-BJP government has been involved in a rising amount of corruption, including scams like the Saubhagya Scam, the Smart Meter Fraud, and the Assembly Dome Collapse Scam.
“The kind of alleged corruption of this scale cannot happen without the patronage of the people in authority…Corruption is more crippling and deadlier than terrorism. There will no more resources left for development or to create jobs. Through terrorism, people get affected but when you rob the state and cripple its economy, you are robbing every citizen and the future generations,” said Sangma.
The leader of the Meghalaya TMC stated that it was their duty to expose the corrupt, inept, and incompetent MDA government as the primary Opposition party and the only viable political option in the state. Moreover, the leader of the opposition claimed that the government was accountable to the people for purchasing land at astronomically inflated prices when the villages had sold their ancestral property for only half as much.
“The land scam is reflective of what is going on in the state…We have seen how corruption has crippled various countries…I wanted to urge the people to come together and rescue the state from the hands of the people who are responsible for making us the infamous state for being number 1 in the corruption,” he said.