Meghalaya CM denies he has role in denying permission for PM’s rally

SHILLONG, FEB 20: The National President of National People’s Party (NPP), Shri. Conrad K Sangma has vehemently denied the false accusations of the BJP over his influence in denial of permission to hold a rally by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi at the P.A. Sangma Sports Complex in Tura by the District Administration of West Garo Hills District.

Asserting that he has no role to play in denying permission for the PM’s rally, he said all permissions for rallies are given by the Election Commission of India and the district administration is adhering to directives issued to them by the ECI.

“All permissions come from the side of the Election Commission of India and based on its direction, the district administration takes action. So there is no say from NPP or my side; dragging our (NPP and my) name into it is completely wrong. Even I haven’t gotten permission for many of my rallies,” he said on Monday.

He further said such things happen during the elections but the BJP has made this into a big issue. “But we have already said in the beginning that the stadium has two parts. The first part consists of the Football Stadium, which is ready and it was inaugurated. The other part, which has an indoor stadium and swimming pool, is not ready and we have made it clear. Only half is ready and the other part is not ready,” the Chief Minister informed.

It is to be mentioned here that the State Government under the leadership of Conrad K. Sangma had inaugurated the Football Stadium at the P.A. Sangma Sports Complex in Tura, West Garo Hills District on 16th December, 2022. The Football Ground is the country’s largest pre-engineered composite stadium and the first natural ground of international standard in the State.

It was categorically stated that only the football ground was inaugurated while the rest of the Stadium is still under construction, and components like Indoor Stadiums with Gymnasium, Swimming Pool, Table Tennis Hall, Squash Hall and Badminton Hall among other State-of-the-art facilities would be ready for inauguration by December 2023.

On the possible reasons for not getting the permission for the rally, Conrad reasoned, “It is a fact that when PM Modi holds a programme, the crowd will be huge. So, I feel that the district administration may have felt that since it is a natural turf, and if many people come, it will damage the natural turf and also there is no parking there.”