SHILLONG: The BJP’s National Spokesperson and in-charge of the party affairs in Meghalaya, Nalin Kohli, on Saturday said the party had already identified many candidates in the state for the ensuing Assembly elections to be held next year.
Speaking to media persons here on Saturday, he said that the outcome of the election would be a surprise and many things would be happening in the party in next two or three months.
“We will keep working with the mission that people of Meghalaya as well as other parts of the country deserve development and as the developmental wave is taking place across the country, Meghalaya should not remain untouched by it,” he said.
Admitting that the attempt to project the BJP as a communal party will exist as long as the BJP exists, he, however, said that the people of India thought of the party otherwise.
Kohli said, “There have been a lot of attempts to engineer false propaganda that BJP is anti-Christian but Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has clearly stated that those who lynch others in the name of cow protection are wrong and the respective states must deal with it firmly and strongly.”
“We believe in Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas. We do not distinguish between a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Parsi, Jew and any other community,” he said
When asked about the allegation that BJP is conniving with regional parties to make inroads into the state, he said Rahul Gandhi recently as the leader of the Congress party met a Chinese Ambassador and people can draw any conclusion about it.
“If Dr Mukul Sangma meets me meet somewhere and we shake hands, it should not mean that we are in an alliance. So meeting is one thing and having an understanding is another thing,” he added.
Castigating the Chief Minister, he said that Dr Mukul Sangma only understood how to stay in power and how to be in power.
He added that Mukul Sangma had no understanding of how to facilitate development or to serve the people of Meghalaya and it was well reflected in the ground reality that there was no medical college in Tura till date.
“Why are the roads in Mendipathar so bad? Why there is no road in many Garo hills areas? Why are bridges still made of wood? These are all responsibilities of Dr Mukul Sangma as the Chief Minister,” he added.
Kohli is set to visit the state again in August and during his visit, he would personally meet members of the Christian community.
He also added that the party had Catholic members in Goa and many Muslims as well in other parts of the country and they could always complain if there was an agenda against these two communities.