Meghalaya Governor Satya Pal Malik has taken a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) again, saying agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation would have raided his house if he had wealth.
But he said he did not own a house and had asked the government to allot him an accommodation post-retirement.
Addressing the 3 rd convocation of the ICFAI (Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India) University in Meghalaya capital Shillong, Mr. Malik said he did not possess a house despite having been a four-time MLA.
“Poverty is my real strength and I can fight with the big and powerful people of the country. If I had wealth, ED, Income Tax and CBI would have come to my house to scare me,” he said.
Mr. Malik said his gubernatorial assignment for more than four years had taught him that Governors were too helpless to do anything. “The Governors are given a written speech, after which they think they have done a great work,” he said in a lighter vein.
The Meghalaya governor has been attacking the BJP and its policies since the farmers’ protest began more than a year ago. Backing the farmers, he had said the BJP-led government was wrong in pursuing three contentious farm laws that triggered the protest.
He had also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘arrogant’.
Mr. Malik had joined the BJP after changing several parties such as the Congress, the Janata Dal, the Lok Dal and the Samajwadi Party. He was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir before being transferred to Meghalaya.
