SHILLONG: After Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had made it clear in a public rally that the National People’s Party (NPP) was a BJP agent and with Rahul Gandhi seconding him during his short visit to the state recently, the Meghalaya unit of the Congress has dared the NPP to break ties with the BJP-led NDA government if it wants to prove that it is not working hand in glove with the saffron party.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Congress spokesperson Ronnie V Lyngdoh said the party should also break the alliance it has forged with the BJP in Manipur and Rajasthan if the NPP wants to send a message that it is not working with the BJP.
“Though they are saying they are not part of BJP, the facts speak otherwise,” Lyngdoh said while accusing NPP of working with a communal party.
Maintaining that the NPP is part and parcel of the BJP, Lyngdoh accused the party of trying to fool the people of the state by showing that it is an independent political entity.
“The NPP and BJP are like two sides of the same coin and apart from their alliance in several states, the NPP is also the leading party in BJP’s NEDA,” Lyngdoh said.
Claiming that the NPP will come a cropper in the forthcoming state elections, Lyngdoh alleged that the massive crowds that NPP happens to be pulling for its public meetings are eyewash as the people thronging the rallies are provided with food packets, money and transportation costs.
Continuing his diatribe against the BJP and NPP, Lyngdoh said BJP leader Subramanian Swamy in the Rajya Sabha on Friday had moved a private member’s bill for a countrywide ban on cow slaughter, but the saffron party asked him to withdraw the bill since the North-Eastern states are going to polls later this month.
The Congress spokesperson also slammed the NPP president Conrad Sangma saying the MP from Tura has not praised his late father, Purno Sangma, as much as he has praised the Prime Minister, adding that the NPP has lost political capital due to its proximity to the BJP as the people of the state have realised that it is BJP’s ally.
Lyngdoh said the BJP is finding it tough to nominate candidates, the reason why the party has released a list of only 45 candidates, adding that many BJP candidates have no option but to abide by the whims of a few big businessmen in the state.
He further alleged that some MLAs have joined the BJP in the hope that the BJP would withdraw the ban on coal mining within 6 months of coming to power. But such a move is impossible since the matter under the purview of the National Green Tribunal and not the Union government.
Asked why the Congress is yet to announce candidates in three seats, Lyngdoh said the names would be released in a day or two even as he added that the party has multiple candidates in all the three seats.
“We are not picking up Tom, Dick and Harry candidates. We are looking for doctors, engineers and retired bureaucrats as our candidates,” he said.
Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Congress working president Vincent Pala said that it was clear as to why the BJP shifted a weak candidate like Banteilang Rumnong from Sohra to Pynurusla. It was only to help NPP’s Prestone Tynsong win the election.
“It is abundantly clear from all their actions and facts on the ground that the NPP is closely allied with the BJP,” Pala said.
The Congress MP also said that before the BJP finally decided to announce its list of candidates, the party’s leaders had summoned NPP leaders from the Jaintia and Garo Hills to Guwahati to deliberate on the final list and get all the creases ironed out so as not to disturb the alliance.
