BJP finalises its decision to contest from Shillong & Tura in LS polls

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by BJP general secretary in-charge North East Ajay Jamuwal and attended by state party’s leaders and workers here in the city on Tuesday.

“We have decided in principle to contest the Lok Sabha elections from both the parliamentary seats in Meghalaya,” BJP state leader and cabinet minister AL Hek told reporters.

Hek informed that the election committee will soon be constituted for inviting applications from aspiring candidates who are interested to contest the upcoming elections from the party. According to him, a delegation of the state party will also be meeting the national president Amit Shah to inform him on today’s decision.

He said that so far around four-five candidates have already approached the party for ticket but the decision on the matter will be taken by the state election committee. He however refused to disclose on whether the state president Shibun Lyngdoh is one among the aspiring candidates for the Shillong parliamentary seat.

Asked, Hek said the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance does not have any consensus candidates for the two seats and moreover other partners like the United Democratic Party (UDP) and Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) have already set up their own respective candidates.

“Therefore, we have decided that the BJP as a national party will also field candidates for LS polls and we are confident to win both the seats. The BJP was having only two MPs in 1984 but now it is the biggest party in the country,” he said while reacting to a query on poor performance of the party in the 2018 Assembly polls.

BJP state president Shibun Lyngdoh said that the party earlier thought of supporting and had waited for the MDA to propose the consensus candidates but nothing happened till today. “However, we have decided not to wait anymore and therefore this decision,” he added.

On the other hand, the vice president of the party David Kharsati said that the fact the elections for district council, state assembly and Lok Sabha have different formula. “There are only two national parties the BJP and the Congress. With the Congress having been rejected, the only option for the people now is the BJP,” Kharsati claimed.

Meanwhile, Hek said that the demand to remove the party from the MDA does not arise because according to the UDP leader such statement was based on the personal opinion of some individuals and not a decision taken by the party.

By Our Reporter