BJP to contest all 60 seats in 2023 Meghalaya assembly polls

Shillong, Oct. 11 (IANS): After having ‘strained relationship’ with the National People’s Party (NPP), which dominates the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced to field candidates in all the 60 seats in the next assembly elections, due in February next year.

Meghalaya BJP President Ernest Mawrie said that the party would contest in all 60 Assembly seats in the state in the assembly election, which is less than five months away from now. “The BJP would do well in Meghalaya in the upcoming polls as the people are very happy for the schemes being implemented by the BJP-led Central Government,” Mawrie told the media.

He said that the party has already finalised its strategies to take on the other parties in the ensuing assembly polls.

In the last assembly polls in 2018, the BJP had nominated 47 candidates including two women nominees, and won two seats – Pynthorumkhrah (Alexander Laloo Hek) and South Shillong (Sanbor Shullai). Shullai is now a cabinet minister of the MDA government headed by Chief Minister and the NPP President Conrad K Sangma.

With two members, BJP is the junior partner of the NPP-led MDA government but the saffron party’s relations have been deteriorating since last year on various policy matters.

Last month, state BJP leaders threatened to withdraw support from the MDA government. But the party is now silent on the pullout decision. BJP MLA and Minister Shullai, who holds the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Arts and Culture, Prisons and Correctional Services, Labour Departments, recently indicated that his party might not withdraw support from the MDA government.

With state BJP leaders largely mum after their pullout threat, political pundits are saying that the party’s Central leaders did not endorse the state unit’s decision. Chief Minister Sangma has already termed the state BJP leaders’ threat as an “individual decision” while NPP state President W.R. Kharlukhi described it as “total farce”.

Meghalaya BJP President Ernest Mawrie, former Health and Family Welfare Minister Alexander Laloo Hek, BJP national Vice-President and party’s Meghalaya in-charge M Chuba Ao earlier separately said that the state party leaders unanimously decided to withdraw support from the MDA government but the final decision would be taken by the Central leadership.

To a query about the reasons behind the decision to quit the ruling coalition almost at the end of the full five year term, Hek had told IANS that “everything would be disclosed and explained in detail at an appropriate time”.

NPP’s relation with the BJP had been gradually souring over various issues, especially after the arrest of BJP state Vice President Bernard N Marak, who was arrested from Uttar Pradesh by the Meghalaya Police on July 25 for allegedly running a brothel in the West Garo Hills district.