Meghalaya government to file defamation suit against TMC's Saket Gokhale

Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on December 7 said that the state government will file a defamation suit against All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) national spokesperson Saket Gokhale.

Terming Gokhale a 'psycho' Tynsong said the AITC's national spokesperson's intention was just to spoil the government's image.

“I personally feel he (Gokhale) has become like a psycho as this man keeps making such allegations about the functioning of the state government. Now we have no more patience. By tomorrow, we will have to file a defamation case against him,'' Tynsong added.

The development comes after Gokhale alleged large-scale financial irregularities worth Rs 632 crore in the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project (MEIDP) by an IAS officer Dr Vijay Kumar.

Highlighting the facts, the TMC claimed that the company is responsible for implementing the Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project for which the Meghalaya govt has taken a loan of USD 79.05 million (i.e. Rs 632 crores) from the New Development Bank (NDB).

''Further, tenders and RFPs have been floated for these projects - however, the tenders have been floated by Meghalayan Age Ltd and not by the government of Meghalaya which means that none of the details of the tenders is public and the process of awarding these tenders and the names of contractors who have been awarded these tenders to be secret and not revealed publicly,'' TMC had claimed.

However, Tynsong denied all the allegations made against the government and clarified that all records are available and that even the tendering process has been done online.

Tynsong further clarified that the project cost for the MEIDP is about Rs 731 crore and is one of the many externally aided projects (EAPs) being implemented in the state.

He added that out of Rs 731 crores, Rs 230 crore has been allotted for the tender which has been called. 

“Presently, the work allotted and order to reach Rs 731 are in the fray where we have to go through the tender process depending on the projects under which department it falls,'' he added.

''Currently, only three departments such as sports, tourism, and PWD are implementing this project are funded by NDB,'' he said.

Also read: Meghalaya government refutes TMC's claims of financial anomalies worth Rs 632 crore