Demonetisation, Governance Day affected party: BJP

SHILLONG: The BJP state president said on Monday said lack of awareness on demonetisation among people and the late decision to change the date of Good Governance Day in Meghalaya are among the reasons that impacted the party’s performance in the District Council by-election.
Shibun Lyngdoh said people are yet to be made aware of the importance of the Centre’s move to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
“People were misled. They were made to believe that standing in long queues is nothing but harassment and this would affect them, which is not true,” the BJP state head said.
He pointed out that late announcement of the decision to change Good Governance     Day in the State to December 23 from December 25 had also affected BJP’s performance in the by-polls.
However, Lyngdoh refused to accept the by-poll result as a setback for the party and instead said it was a “trial” for the BJP and “a lesson” that will help the party improve its performance in the 2018 Assembly elections.
“The party needs to work harder and ensure better results in the 2018 polls,” he said and added that the party is proud that it maintained a corruption-free image and instead of using money power, it harped on its manifesto to woo the electorate.
The BJP had contested all the seven vacant seats in the KHADC and the JHADC by-polls but failed to win a single seat. The total vote count of the party in the seven constituencies was only 8,418 of the over 1 lakh electorate.