By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, March 23: The U-turn by the BJP leadership in Meghalaya just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls has surprised many in the party and although the workers and leaders are reluctantly yielding to the diktat, party president Rikman Momin has also now come under the scanner of the party leaders in the state.
The State BJP leadership on Saturday had dismay writ large on their faces as they tried to convince and pacify their unhappy members to extend their support to the NPP candidates as decided by the central leadership.
“We are not happy at all but since this is the direction of the central leadership we will have to comply,” said a senior BJP leader who did not wish to be named.
The leader also agreed that many of the state leaders and workers are against the move and many have exited the social media groups of the party.
The leader is hopeful that this is a temporary setback and they will be back soon.
Meanwhile, the BJP leaders huddled up for an urgent meeting convened by State president Rikman Momin on Saturday to discuss about the political development.
According to some party members who attended the meeting, the party president expressed his helplessness over the decision of the central leadership not to contest the polls in Meghalaya.
A leader who was present in the meeting (on condition of anonymity) said that a few senior party leaders raised concerns about the weak leadership in the state which is creating a division in the party.
Lamenting that the state leadership has been found wanting, the party leaders added that the weak leadership in Meghalaya failed to convince the central leadership that the party is prepared to contest and win the polls.
Earlier, a meeting of the BJP core committee was held on Friday immediately after the central leadership’s decision was announced.
“We had a meeting and various views and opinion were shared by the leaders and karyakartas and we are working out how to proceed from here,” BJP spokesperson, M Kharkrang said.
When it was pointed out that many BJP workers are unhappy with the decision, Kharkrang said, “The thing is that they are BJP workers and they would have liked to vote for their own candidate. However, we have convinced them and explained to them why the decision was taken by the central leadership.”
Asked about the road ahead, he said, “What’s next will be an internal decision. Let’s leave it to that for now.”
Later, the State BJP leadership met NPP national president and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to extend their support officially.
“Whatever message was given to us we have conveyed it to the NPP. That’s all,” party president Momin said after meeting the chief minister.
It may be noted that BJP leaders and workers have alleged that the failure of the state president (Momin) to prevent infighting for the party ticket and his failure to recommend one name per seat proved to be the final nail in the BJP’s coffin.
“Party leaders should have primarily listened to the party voice. However it seems the party was interested in giving tickets to those who have more influence in Delhi rather than having more support in the state,” some BJP workers had said.
“Everyone expected sweeping reforms with Momin’s name being announced as the new state president, but rather a downward slide is evident in Garo Hills after his promotion of a candidate who had contested the MLA election from outside Garo Hills and is currently an applicant for the Tura seat,” party leaders had stated on condition of anonymity.