SHILLONG: The Meghalaya BJP has countered chief minister Mukul Sangma for accusing Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam of not following protocol, asserting that it is not mandatory for central leaders to inform the chief minister if the visit is “not official.”
In a press statement issued here on Thursday, state BJP vice-president J.A. Lyngdoh said that the allegation by the chief minister was a “desperate attempt to malign BJP”.
Clarifying that there was no question of breaking protocol, Lyngdoh said it was not mandatory for Kannanthanam to inform as the visits to the state as they were unofficial.
“It is to be noted that is the visits by central leaders of the Union government are not official, it is not mandatory to inform and as such spending of public money thereof does not arise,” the statement said.
The chief minister had on Wednesday blamed Kannanthanam for vitiating the relations between the Centre and the state and criticised him for not following protocol. “The general convention and tradition is that central leaders try to call on the chief minister when they visit a state,” Sangma had said.
Terming the Congress a “sinking ship”, the state BJP further said that the fact that MLAs were either not applying tickets for the Assembly election or declaring not to contest was a clear indication of the party not certain to make a comeback, leave aside its claim to still form the next government.
Referring to the press statement by the chief minister asserting that the BJP would not even win a single seat (in the elections) and challenged the saffron party for a bet, Lyngdoh stated that the “BJP warmly accepted the bet.”
‘BJP agenda is to root out corruption from state’
The BJP also clarified that it would not “blindly support” any party or person and that the main agenda of the part was to work for development.
Reacting to the statement of AICC (minority department) observer Rejaul Karim Laskar that BJP was supporting NPP, the state BJP said the party would “support any organisation or political party with an agenda to eradicate corruption which is rampant in Meghalaya under the Mukul Sangma-led Congress government.”
“The BJP is not and will not be interested in blindly supporting any party or person in India. Our main agenda is to support any party or person working for the development of the state or country,” state BJP vice-president J.A. Lyngdoh said in the statement.
Referring to the statement made Laskar that BJP is “anti-minority”, Lyngdoh countered by saying that, “All attempts are being made by the Congress to divide the country on religious lines to create tension and fear psychosis and distracting attention from the major issues of the state.”
“What BJP and PM Modi are doing is not anti-minority but pro-poor, pro-farmers, pro-women reforms, which are in the larger interest of society and not for any particular class of society. The Congress wanted to replace the agenda of the BJP on anti-corruption with anti-minority which is not so convincing for the people of the state. Narendra Modi is anti-minority if and only if the minority is against the nation and not maintaining the dignity of India,” the statement said.
The statement went on to add that the publicity stunt carried out by the “soft heads” Congressmen and its by-products over the years will not hinder the progress of BJP. “Let us wait for the verdict in 2018 where the truth will be known to the people of the state, that who the real enemy of minorities is,” it added.
