SHILLONG, July 27: State BJP president Ernest Mawrie on Wednesday said the party’s relationship with the National People’s Party (NPP) will be strained after the incident involving senior leader Bernard Marak.
“We are partners in the MDA government and they have to give us equal treatment,” he said.
Mawrie was categorically silent on the big question of whether the BJP will pull out of the MDA government. He said the decision, if taken at all, will come from the central leadership.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had on Tuesday expressed optimism that the relationship between the two parties will not be strained by the incident.
He had also said that the action taken against Marak has nothing to do with politics. He said there is “strong” evidence against the arrested BJP state vice president.
The raid by the police at Marak’s farmhouse just 6-7 months ahead of Assembly elections has set tongues wagging. The BJP too questioned the timing of the raid given that the farmhouse has been operational since 2019.
The BJP will stage a protest across the state later this week against the alleged harassment of party workers by Tura police. It discussed the matter at a meeting held here on Wednesday.
Mawrie alleged party’s Tura city unit general secretary Wilver M Danggo and some party workers were called for recording their statements by Tura police and detained for six hours.
He lamented that the West Garo Hills SP instructed Danggo to report every day. He said following the raid, the BJP’s central leadership had asked the state unit to conduct an internal inquiry and submit a report.
“We have submitted the report to the party high command and is waiting for necessary instructions,” Mawrie said.
“The way they conducted the raid by not inviting all the media but only one news channel shows it was not appropriate,” he said.
He refused to comment anything on “political vendetta” but insisted the law should be equal for everybody.
Meanwhile, in a statement, BJP state executive member Pawan Sharma said a party delegation will meet the CM to apprise him of the ground situation. Demanding the removal of the Tura SP for his alleged highhandedness, he said it is the duty of Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui to ensure the safety of the BJP workers and the citizens in the state. He also demanded the safety of Marak.
Not targeting BJP
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday clarified that last week’s raid on Rimpu Bagan and the ongoing investigation into the case is not intended to targeting the BJP or any political party.
“The police have gone ahead with the investigation after a detailed homework. Not only this, there was a formal complaint from the neighbours,” Tynsong said, adding that the main concern of the government is to ensure that any activity, which has a detrimental impact on the society, has to be dealt with in the strongest manner.
On the harassment of its workers as alleged by the BJP, Tynsong declined to comment saying police were doing their job.
He also informed that ten people have been remanded in police custody while 22 have been remanded in judicial custody. “The remaining people were released after it was established that they were not involved,” he said.
He declined to comment if the arrested persons had any affiliation with the BJP.
According to him, the BJP leaders would be able to share the information how many of them are BJP members.
TMC questions timing of raid
The TMC said complaints about Bernard’s farmhouse had come three years ago but the state government conducted the raid with the Assembly elections in mind.
“The timing of the raid is suspicious because there have been complaints against the particular farmhouse since 2019. Why did the government take three years to act when many people in Tura were complaining about the activities at the farmhouse?” Lyngdoh asked.
He said the delay in the investigation until a few months ahead of the elections was questionable.
On Marak’s accusation that the CM was using the state machinery to try and kill him, Lyngdoh said a fear psychosis has reigned since the custodial death of Cheristerfield Thangkhiew, who had given up extremism. “People are scared that they may be shot if they discuss corruption and other illegal activities in the state,” he added.
