Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the BJP broke its alliance with the NPP before the elections in Meghalaya so that it can contest all 60 assembly seats and emerge stronger.
Addressing an election rally in the North Tura constituency, he appealed to the people to vote for the BJP, promising to end corruption in the state.
"Due to mismanagement and corruption in the state, in 2022-23, the deficit was Rs 1,849 crore. It's a huge amount for a small state like Meghalaya. As per an RBI report, Meghalaya is developing at the slowest pace in the country," he said.
"Make BJP a strong party in the state and we will end corruption," he told the rally.
The BJP, which was part of the NPP-led MDA government, is contesting all 60 seats in the February 27 elections.
"We broke alliance (with NPP) in Meghalaya so that the BJP can contest all the seats and emerge as a strong party," he said.
Listing the development initiatives taken by the Centre for the region, he said the PM-DevINE scheme has been launched with a budget of Rs 6,000 crore.
"I want to assure you that Meghalaya will be the biggest beneficiary of the PM-DevINE scheme if we are able to form govt in the state," Shah said.
Under the Prime Minister's Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE), the Centre will invest for the development of infrastructure, support industries and social development projects, which will lead to employment generation.
"In Meghalaya, 21 lakh people are benefitting from free food grain under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana. Around 2 lakhs farmers are getting Rs 6,000 per year," he said.
Shah said the BJP will work towards providing primary, secondary and higher education in the region in Garo.
He said the Centre proposed two medical colleges for Meghalaya, but the state government failed to build any.
"For 50 years, Meghalaya has no medical college. In Assam, we have built five medical colleges. Modi government proposed two medical colleges for Meghalaya. However, the state government was unable to build any," he said.
He said that Narendra Modi is the only prime minister who came to the Northeast 51 times and helped develop the region.
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