SHILLONG, June 7: Voice of the People Party (VPP) supremo Ardent Miller Basaiawmoit on Friday slammed BJP stalwart and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his alleged statement that a particular religion in Meghalaya was the reason behind the defeat of the NDA candidates in the state.
“I would like to send a message to the Assam Chief Minister who seems to be a habitual loose talker. He should mind his own business and look at his own backyard. He has no right whatsoever to interfere in the affairs of Meghalaya as far as the recently-concluded Parliamentary election is concerned,” Basaiawmoit said in a statement.
He said the people in Meghalaya have the right to choose any person as long as he is a citizen of India and qualified to contest.
According to him, the people in the state are not so naïve that they would not know the aims, objectives, agenda and manifestos of the political parties which contested the polls.
“As the citizens of this democratic country, we have the liberty to choose any party we like. I strongly condemn the statement made by Himanta Biswa Sarma that a particular religion in Meghalaya was the cause for the defeat of the NDA candidate in this parliamentary election,” Basaiawmoit said.
He said the Church in Meghalaya has never been involved in any electoral politics.
“However, as a community, we will choose a party or a candidate who believes in the Constitution of India and secularism and respects the provisions of the Constitution of India. We support the party that protects the minority communities. Therefore, you cannot expect that a Christian will vote or elect a person who belongs to a party that stands against the Constitution of India and is not secular,” Basaiawmoit said.
According to him, people will not vote for a party which is a threat to the minorities in the country.
“And that is the right of every citizen to decide. Therefore, I strongly condemn his statement which was unfounded, baseless and communal in nature. His statement to my mind was only to mislead the people and try to create communal disharmony in the country. I am sure his statements have brought shame to the people of Assam and have greatly affected the sentiments of the people of Meghalaya,” he said.
VPP spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh also slammed the Assam chief minister for his bigotry and shallowness.
His statement shows how frustrated he is in view of his failure to capture the Northeast for the BJP, Myrboh said.
“Instead of taking responsibility for the loss of his party or the NDA allies in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur, Sarma is now blaming religion for the defeat. This is nonsensical and reflects the psychological effect the NDA loss has had on him. His failure would make his role insignificant at the national level,” Myrboh said.
On Tuesday, the Assam Chief Minister had blamed a “particular religion” for the loss that the NDA suffered in three Northeastern states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur in the Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP leader, who is also the convenor of the North-East Democratic Alliance, said that the defeat in these states was not political but because a particular religion openly went against the NDA.
Speaking to reporters at BJP’s state office, Sarma said, “A particular religion openly went against our government in those states and that religion has tremendous followers in those states.”
