Meghalaya BJP to meet central leaders over performance in GHADC polls

A delegation of senior party leaders is planning to meet the central party leadership to present a report card on the performance of the party.
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SHILLONG:

Amidst reported cracks in the Meghalaya state Bharatiya Janata Party unit, a delegation of senior party leaders is planning to meet the central party leadership to present a report card on the performance of the party in the recently concluded election to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC). 

Speaking to TNT-The Northeast Today, the national council member of BJP Meghalaya Pradesh, Bashailang Khongwir, said that the state's party team had planned a meeting with the central leaders in May 3 and 4. 

"But based on the COVID situation, they may hold the meeting or postpone it," he said. 

CRACKS IN BJP, AGAIN?

Khongwir had, on Sunday, accused the state party president, Ernest Mawrie of sidelining several senior leaders from Garo Hills while giving tickets to the other candidates.

“Mawrie should have consulted before doing so as there are complaints from aspirants who were not given the party ticket. If Mawrie wants to run the party in a progressive direction, then he should have consulted and kept all leaders intact but, he (Mawrie) failed to do so”, Khongwir said.

The BJP leader further stated that the result of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) election is an eye-opener for Meghalaya BJP. 

The BJP central leadership is wary of the fact that Congress had emerged as a single largest party in the election and sees this rise of the grand old party as a "threat". 

A reaction was sought from either Mawrie or BJP vice president Bernard Marak, but both were unavailable for comments. 

Meanwhile, the National People's Party (NPP) president and Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, said that the same alliance that formed the coalition in the state might not be possible in the District Council.

Last week, the NPP had announced the formation of the Garo Hills Democratic Alliance (GHDC) comprising of 11 NPP MDCs, three independents and one MDC from the Garo National Council (GNC). 

The NPP-led GHDC got a boost with the entrance of the newly elected BJP MDC from Dalu, Pramod Koch.

The BJP has not yet made its decision known on whether to join the NPP-led alliance in the GHADC. It had earlier demanded the Chief Executive Member (CEM) post, for which the NPP is not keen on giving it away. 

Speaking to reporters, the NPP chief said, “Democracy is about numbers. So I don’t see any reason why this objection is there. Clearly, the numbers are there with us."

He further said that the same formula applied at the state level does not need to be applied for the District Councils as there are different conditions. 

Earlier, the BJP had accused the NPP leaders of misleading the Governor over the requisite number to form the Executive Committee and claimed that the magic number is 17 and not 15.

(Edited by Ibankyntiew Mawrie)

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