SHILLONG: The State BJP has distanced itself from the frequent meetings of State Cabinet Minister A.L. Hek with Union Ministers from the BJP in Delhi by saying that there was no indication from Hek about rejoining the BJP.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, State BJP president Khlur Sing Lyngdoh said that Hek had gone to meet the union ministers in Delhi in his capacity as a State minister and not as a representative of any political party.
“We had discussed the issue with our central leaders over the phone and they did not tell anything about Hek expressing any desire to join the BJP,” Lyngdoh said.
To a question, the BJP president said that it appears that Hek went to Delhi for some personal gain.
Asked about the State BJP’s stand if Hek re-joins the party, Lyngdoh said, “We cannot stop anybody from joining the party, but he has to be serious. We will be happy if more sincere people join the party.”
Hek, who contested and won three consecutive terms from 1998 on BJP ticket from Pynthorumkhrah constituency, had, in 2009 switched over to the Congress. Later in 2013 Assembly elections, Hek won the seat on Congress ticket.
Though Hek’s entry into the Congress was in violation of the anti-defection law since there was no split at Central BJP level, the then Speaker, Charles Pyngrope, had ruled that the lone BJP legislator had merged with However, the state BJP leaders had in the past maintained that though Hek as the lone legislator merged had with the Congress as per the view of the Speaker, there was no merger of the party with the Congress and Hek cannot join the Congress though he was the lone legislator going by the spirit of the anti defection law as there was neither any split in the BJP nor the merger by both the state unit of the party and the central BJP with any political party.
BJP general secretary Dipayan Chakraborty pointed out that when Hek joined the Congress, he had not resigned from the BJP.
The BJP leaders both at the Centre as well as in the State, however, did not pursue the case.
The move of Hek now to be more close to the BJP leaders at the Centre assumes significance in the context of BJP Lok Sabha candidate Shibun Lyngdoh securing maximum votes in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls in Hek’s Pynthorumkhrah constituency compared to the Congress candidate Vincent Pala.
There are also reports that many state political leaders may join the BJP in the changed political situation in Delhi.
However, the state BJP president said that there was no feeler from the sitting MLAs and ex-MLAs to join the party.
To a query on whether Chief Minister Mukul Sangma showed any inclination towards the BJP, the state BJP president said that no one had approached the party office nor any one had discussed anything in this regard.