Shillong: The United Democratic Party (UDP), a regional political party in Meghalaya on Thursday registered a complaint with the Election Commission of India accusing ministers of NPP of ‘misusing’ FOCUS and FOCUS+ schemes.
The complaint by the UDP has come as a surprise as the regional party is a coalition partner of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government in the state, which is being led by the NPP.
A F Dkhar, vice-president of UDP on Thursday registered the complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI), and a copy of the complaint has also been forwarded to the Chief Electoral Officer of Meghalaya.
Dkhar said in the complaint that during the last three months, Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K sangma has been visiting the length and breadth of the state, and has been distributing Rs 5000 to producer groups (group of farmers).
The UDP vice-president said NPP ministers and MLAs have been distributing money in areas where farming is not possible.
“This goes to show that for political benefits, misuse is the name of the game,” the UDP leader said.
Dkhar urged the ECI to take note of the ‘misuse’ of the FOCUS and FOCUS+ schemes and execute relevant exercises so that genuine farmers are not deprieved of their rights.
The UDP leader said the MDA government had earmarked Rs 200 crore to extend financial assistance to the genuine farmers of Meghalaya who had suffered huge loss because of the COVID19 pandemic.
