Sitharaman assures Meghalaya of Central support
Staff Reporter
Shillong, March 13: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured to extend support to the state government of Meghalaya.
ALSO READ: Meghalaya HC calls for action against ‘real culprits’ behind illegal coke plants
This was informed by the Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong. “Chief Minister and I were in Delhi a few days back. As a courtesy, we met the President and a few more leaders including the Union Finance Minister. We discussed the financial position of the state and it is very positive from her (Nirmala) side that she will be with us, bailing us out as far as financial position is concerned,” Tynsong told reporters.
When asked if the financial position of the state is bad, the deputy chief minister however said, “No, not bad at all but what I am saying is she is very supportive to us.”
Meghalaya NPP leader Marcuise N Marak denies ‘horse trading’ charge
Staff Reporter
Shillong, March 10: National People’s Party leader and spokesperson of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance – 2.0 government Marcuise N Marak has categorically denied that his party and its allies were engaging in ‘horse trading’.
“There is no horse trading at all,” Marak told reporters when responding to a query on the allegation made by the former chief minister Mukul Sangma that the alternative government could not be formed by regional parties, AITC and Congress, due to the horse trading.
“If some of the newly elected MLAs wanted to join the NPP-led government then our duty is to welcome them. So therefore, where is horse trading? There is no horse trading at all,” he firmly stated.
On his first day in office, Marak, who is also a cabinet minister in-charge of public health engineering (PHE), expressed confidence that the MDA government will perform well.
He said that he found that the portfolios given to all ministers were quite fairly distributed.
“Most of the ministers are very experienced – Paul, Ampareen and Mondal are very senior. These are ministers who have already proven their efficiency. Therefore, I hope this cabinet will perform well and I will also try my level best to perform well,” Marak said.