Shillong, Jan. 24: Union minister for water resources and BJP Lok Sabha member from Assam, Bijoya Chakraborty, today vowed to expose in detail the “corrupt practices” of the Congress, a partner in the present Meghalaya coalition government, before the February 26 polls.

Chakraborty, who visited the Jirang constituency in Ri Bhoi district along the Assam-Meghalaya border recently, alleged that even after years of Congress rule, the constituency, which is often referred to as the gateway to the state, did not have proper roads, electricity or schools.

“The basic amenities are still missing here. Whom should we blame?” she asked.

The Union minister is the third Central leader to have come down hard on the state government, charging it with misutilisation of Central funds.

Like the other Union ministers before her, Chakraborty, too, claimed that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had taken great interest in developing the region.

A total of Rs 95.4 crore had been sanctioned for the Greater Shillong water supply scheme while two power projects for West Khasi Hills would be launched soon, she said.

Chakraborty regretted that despite the Centre’s eagerness to tap water resources, the state had not submitted any proposal on the issue in two years.

“There is a proposal for a Rs 25-lakh rainwater harvesting project to preserve water in Cherrapunjee, but nothing has been done so far,” she said, adding that 20 other projects were in the pipeline.

Chakraborty said the Congress had been a stumbling block in the way of development of water resources and all other “good initiatives” of the BJP in the Northeast. She said the BJP “will appeal to the people not to give the Congress a chance in Nagaland and Meghalaya”.

The Union minister said chief minister F.A. Khonglam was under the illusion that “he is in very safe in the hands of the people”, but the BJP “would not sit back quietly”.

The leader said the BJP had no plans of forming an alliance with any other party before or after the polls.