By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The division in the State BJP has come to the fore with several party functionaries expressing displeasure about the functioning of party leadership.
The present and former office bearers and executive members of the Meghalaya State BJP unit from Khasi and Garo Hills have demanded the removal of Dipayan Chakraborty as the General Secretary of the party.
In a memorandum to BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) Ramlalji recently, the present and former members of the Meghalaya State BJP unit said that it is distressing to note that ever since BJP entered into the electoral fray in Meghalaya, the party has suffered the worst electoral debacle in the recently concluded LA elections.
“Not only could we be able to win a single seat, the party couldn’t manage to be in second position in any of the constituencies. The party State general secretary (Chakraborty) is solely responsible for debacle performance of the party in the last Assembly election,” they said.
Despite demand from various quarters to drop Dipayan Chakraborty from the State Executive Committee, the present and former members of the Meghalaya State BJP said that the newly appointed President succumbing to pressure from the former President HS Syiemlieh re-nominated Chakraborty to the coveted post of General Secretary (Organisation).
“During the last Legislative Assembly election, all decisions were taken unilaterally by Chakraborty without consulting other office bearers and senior members. Moreover, senior members who have shed their sweat and blood for over two decades to promote the Party have been ignored and sidelined by him in a calculated manner .By re-nominating him as General Secretary (Organisation), the morale of genuine BJP workers is at all time low,” they said.
The present and former members of the Meghalaya State BJP unit said that Chakraborty have also come out with a new policy to dislodge duly elected Mandal Committees (e.g. Nongthymmai Mandal ) by replacing them with Adhoc committees with persons of his choice.
After Rajnath Singhji took over as National President and subsequent restructuring of the entire organization, they said that they were optimistic to witness some change here in Meghalaya also, the present and former members of the Meghalaya State BJP unit said that they were optimistic to witness some change here in Meghalaya.
“However, much to our disappointment we found a new Adhoc committee being announced with a relatively new comer, Khlur Singh Lyngdoh as President. What surprises us is that the same old office bearers who were utterly responsible for the Party’s poor performance in the LA election were re-nominated with minor reshuffle,” they said.
They have pointed out that Meghalaya being a tribal dominated state where 55 out of 60 seats are reserved for the indigenous community, a tribal General Secretary (Organisation) is desperately required who can communicate to the tribal people in their dialect.
“The present incumbent is not fluent in any of the major languages like Khasi and Garo and hence cannot communicate with the local people especially in the rural areas. We fervently request you to take remedial measures by replacing Chakraborty with a dynamic and capable tribal leader who can deliver and promote the ideology of the Party in the nooks and corners of the State.” the present and former members of the Meghalaya State BJP unit said.
They have observed that Meghalaya unlike few other North Eastern States has better potential and viable atmosphere for the party to bloom which is evident from the fact that BJP was part of coalition ministries in the State on a number of times.