SHILLONG, JAN 19: The opposition Congress on Thursday said that the National People’s Party (NPP) and other regional parties in Meghalaya will soon be swallowed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
AICC media coordinator Bobeeta Sharma told reporters that the BJP always piggy rides on the regional parties and then they swallow up the regional parties while responding to a query on the BJP’s failure to pull out of the NPP-led MDA government despite making corruption allegations.
She said the same thing happened with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). “They (BJP) have no candidates in Assam but they rode on the back of the AGP and then they tried to make inroads into the political scene of the state of Assam.”
“When you come from Guwahati you see so many posters of the BJP as if it (Meghalaya) is a BJP state. This is not a BJP state as they have only two MLAs but NPP will soon be swallowed by the BJP, that is the message they are giving and that is why they are not pulling out as they have their own interest in hand,” Sharma warned.
She said in fact the BJP state president Ernest Mawrie had himself made a press statement calling the NPP-led MDA government the most corrupt government.
“So you can imagine that if an ally himself says that his government is corrupt but at the same time with all due respect to Ernest Mawrie he very earnestly had the press meet but he did not take any action with all earnestness – so you can imagine his good intention in saying that. On one hand you see that the BJP talks about the NPP being corrupt but they don’t do anything about it,” she added.
Stating that the Congress has never tried to swallow any regional parties, the AICC leader said, “The Congress has given them the space to grow as it is very important to have regional parties and regional aspirations but the BJP wants only their party to win as they don’t want regionalism at all.”
When asked, Sharma alleged that the BJP has already started buying NPP MLAs. “NPP people are joining the BJP. They have already started doing that and it is not very long before they will end like AGP in Assam,” she asserted.
“How they swallow smaller parties is for all there to see. You see everywhere the posters of Modi here. Is it relevant with only two MLAs? Why do you need Modi’s posters when CM is an NPP person? That is very evident, their long term strategy and it is a big warning to NPP,” she further added.
Mathew Anthony, also an AICC media coordinator said the BJP has their vested interest in staying in the government. “…when you are a participant there you are an equal partner there so you have your interest, you have your returns that are coming in, the looting is shared so that is why they are staying.”
He cited that the BJP has crippled the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu.
“You look at the antecedent of the people, we don’t have to speak they speak for themselves how they destroy democracy by practices, for them it is only absolute power with lies and fake promises,” Anthony said while adding “…whenever they tied up with regional parties, they have destroyed them so why will NPP not fear the BJP in the nearby future.”
On the other hand, Anthony said that the regional parties are threatened with enforcement directorate (ED), CBI and others if they don’t fall in line with the BJP.
“The BJP brazenly used their power to oppress people to toe their line. That is why the regional parties are aligning with the BJP. It is not out of love but out of fear,” he stated.
By Our Reporter
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