PM Modi rally not allowed at Meghalaya stadium as SPG also found venue unfit: state officials

“This is a needless controversy. The SPG is seized of the matter. Even they haven’t found the venue to be fit for PM’s rally,” a senior Meghalaya police officer said.

Confirming this, a Union government official said, “It is true, the venue is not ready. There is debris everywhere. The ground is undulating. The venue is not fit for rally of the size that the PM’s presence would attract. It was adjudged to be a security risk. Even if the state administration had given the permission, the venue would have been rejected during the Advance Security Liaison (ASL).”

An ASL is a process that is carried out before every event of the Prime Minister or any dignitary who is accorded such a security protocol. In this the PM security detail, the SPG, along with the state police takes stock of the venue finalised for the PM’s event in terms of security arrangements, evacuation opportunities and general safety of those attending. Inputs collected by the Intelligence Bureau about any threat perception are also taken into consideration.

The issue, however, has been picked up by the state unit of the BJP which is attacking the Conrad Sangma government claiming the CM is scared of the popularity of the PM.

Though BJP and NPP are in alliance in the state government, they are fighting the polls, scheduled for February 27, independently.

“The PM has just held a rally in Tura in another stadium. If the state administration was conspiring to deny the PM a space to campaign, even this rally wouldn’t have happened. Also, the code of conduct is in place and the matters are not in the hands of the government but the Election Commission,” a Meghalaya official said.

On February 18, the Meghalaya government denied permission to the BJP to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election rally at the P A Sangma Stadium, located in Chief Minister Conrad Sangma’s home constituency of South Tura in West Garo Hills district. The development led to the BJP accusing NPP of deliberately denying the permission.

“It is a big insult,” said Earnest Mawrie, the state unit president of the BJP, speaking to The Indian Express about the denial of permission earlier. “This stadium was funded by the BJP-led Central government. Imagine denying permission to the Prime Minister of the country. Condemnable.”

On Monday, CM Conrad Sangma denied the allegations and said that his government had “no role to play” in denying permission for the PM’s rally.

“All permissions come from the side of the Election Commission of India, and based on its direction, the district administration takes action. So, there is no say from the NPP or my side; dragging our name into it is completely wrong. Even I haven’t got permission for many of my rallies,” Sangma said on Monday.

The much-awaited P A Sangma stadium — named after the former chief minister and the father of Conrad Sangma — was built at a cost of Rs 127 crore and inaugurated by CM Conrad Sangma on December 16, 2022.

The football ground is the country’s largest pre-engineered composite stadium and the first natural ground of international standards in the state.