SHILLONG, Feb 12: A day after the UDP made a pitch for a Khasi chief minister, alliance partner BJP has slammed the move terming it as a communal one, which is divisive in nature.
BJP state president, Ernest Mawrie on Sunday targeted UDP candidate from Mawlai, Process T Sawkmie for trying to win the election on communal lines, adding the latter’s comment that a Khasi chief minister should helm the new government to be formed after the Assembly polls can open communal faultlines.
Talking to The Shillong Times here, Mawrie said it is not right on the part of Sawkmie to make such a comment which can divide Khasi and Garo communities. According to the BJP leaders, such a viewpoint just to serve political interest is not desirable.
Mawrie further said the saffron party will support a leader who has all the merits to become the CM of the state.
“It does not matter whether he is a Garo, Khasi or even a non-Khasi. But he should have the capability to become the CM,” the BJP state president said.
Mawrie pointed out that UDP was instrumental in making NPP national president, Conrad K Sangma the chief minister after the 2018 Assembly polls.
“May be he (Sawkmie) has just joined the UDP. But as a leader we should remember about the past records of the party,” Mawrie said.
The BJP state president further stated that he does not think any of the political parties will endorse the stand of Sawkmie.
The NPP also cautioned the UDP against toeing the communal line in its bid to garner support during the elections.
“Our state must be protected at all costs from fragmentation of communities as it will have a huge negative impact on a united Meghalaya. We cannot divide the state just to gain political mileage. One Meghalaya is the only way forward,” NPP spokesperson Ampareen Lyngdoh told The Shillong Times on Sunday.
Making it abundantly clear that a debate on this “pre-condition” of a Khasi Cm was a futile exercise, Lyngdoh said, “Post elections, the numbers will determine government formation and the next CM. No other factor will supersede the number game. No party will earn the privilege of leading the government alone if it falls short of the majority.”
She also recalled that in 2018, an MLA from a constituency in East Khasi Hills was proposed as leader of the state, but a partner in the MDA coalition had rejected the proposal.
Earlier, Sawkmie said, “We need our people (Khasis) to lead the new government. We are tired as we have seen Dr Mukul Sangma as the CM for eight years. We again have got another Sangma (Conrad K Sangma) as the CM for the next five years. Where are the Khasi political leaders whether a Lyngdoh, a Syiem, a Kharkongor and so on? Why don’t we have any Khasi leader, who is fit to be the CM,” Sawkmie said at an event organised by the Mawlai Iewrynghep Dorbar on the premises of Mawlai Presbyterian Higher Secondary School, Iewrynghep on Saturday.
Asserting that a Garo CM takes away development projects to Garo Hills, Sawkmie pointed out that sportspersons of the state had expected an international standard stadium to come up in Shillong but it came into being in Tura.
“Even the first state University will be set up in Tura. This only proves that we are losing much by having a CM from Garo Hills. It is high time we elect a CM from the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region so that major projects are not diverted to Garo Hills,” the UDP candidate said.
