Smart meters scam pits Trinamool against NPP in Meghalaya
The Hindu
Former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma writes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a probe by Central agencies
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After ally Bharatiya Janata Party, principal opponent Trinamool Congress (TMC) has lashed out against the National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya.
The State BJP unit has been accusing Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma’s NPP, which heads the multi-party Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, of unleashing a “political vendetta” against its vice-president and former extremist Bernard N. Marak, arrested on charges of running a sex racket.
The TMC has now targeted the NPP for “large-scale corruption” in the power sector.
James P.K. Sangma, the Chief Minister’s brother, is the Power Minister of Meghalaya.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Meghalaya TMC leader and former Chief Minister Mukul M. Sangma has sought a probe by Central agencies into the purchase of “overpriced” smart meters as well as anomalies in the Saubhagya scheme, a universal electrification initiative.
He said the NPP-led State government purchased 1.8 lakh smart meters at ₹11,242 per meter instead of almost half the price at which such meters are available in the open market. This led to a massive discrepancy of ₹137.55-crore, he added.
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