TURA: United Democratic Party (UDP) in Garo Hills has suffered a severe dent in the East Garo Hills district with over three hundred party supporters and workers led by senior party member Santosh R Marak walking off to join the BJP at Williamnagar on Monday morning.
The over three hundred news members of the BJP, which allegedly included a couple of Congress and NPP workers also, were welcomed into the national party by BJP state president Shibun Lyngdoh and a host of senior leaders who arrived from Shillong to take part in the first ever mass joining of supporters from a regional party to the BJP.
The former government officer and additional district magistrate, Santosh R Marak, had taken voluntary retirement and contested the 2013 state assembly elections as the UDP candidate from Williamnagar unsuccessfully.
Welcoming the new party members, the BJP President Lyngdoh termed it a historic day for the party in the Garo Hills particularly because Williamnagar had always been a stronghold of the Congress and the NPP with even the UDP having a strong base in the past.
“Today is a historic day for the BJP in Garo Hills and clearly shows that the political clout and support of the Congress and others are waning while that of the BJP is rising,” said President Lyngdoh.
Speaking to reporters after his entry to the BJP, Santosh Marak said that the decision to leave the regional UDP and join the national party was because the regional party had literally ceased to exist following the election debacles in the state and recent district council polls.
“This decision was not mine alone but that of my supporters and well wishers. The people of Garo Hills had spoken in the last assembly and GHADC elections. There is no future in the UDP and the Congreess is the most corrupted party,” said Santosh Marak.
BJP state general secretary David Kharsati said that people were looking for an alternative to the Congress, NPP and UDP. “They have realized that the alternative lies in the BJP,” said Kharsati. He also attacked the Congress for accusing his party of propagating a beef ban and being anti-tribal and anti-christian.
