Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma slams Chuba Ao over 'begging bowl' comment

SHILLONG: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma and his alliance partners - United Democratic Party (UDP) and People's Democratic Front (PDF) of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) - have hit out at BJP national vice-president Chuba Ao for his statement in which he accused the regional parties of going to New Delhi with a "begging bowl".
On Saturday, Ao, who is also BJP's in-charge of Meghalaya, had stated that "regional parties with national outlook have one agenda - go to Delhi with a begging bowl. What they do with it after returning is an open secret".
Countering Ao's veiled attack, CM Sangma said, "He has brought down his own people and has made them look in a very bad light".
"I am surprised that he (Ao) had made such a statement. I don't know why he (Dr Ao) had made this statement as he himself is from the North East. He has full knowledge on how things work in the northeast. It is really unfortunate that he made a comparison," Sangma, who is also the president of the National People's Party (NPP), said.
"... majority funds do come from central government, even the taxes and different schemes... majority of the funds come from the central taxes but that is a way the government of India works and that is why finance commission works in this aspect," the CM, who also holds the finance portfolio, explained.
Sangma, who is heading a seven-party led MDA government, of which the BJP too is a part, asked the BJP national vice-president to come and see the works that are happening under MNREGA where the state had spent Rs 600 crore at one point of time.