BJP chief to assess party’s strength in Meghalaya
SHILLONG: BJP national president Amit Shah will visit Shillong on April 22 to hold meetings with party leaders in the State and also to assess the party’s strength in Meghalaya.
He will leave Shillong the next day to visit other parts of the North East.
Sources from the BJP informed that the visit of the party’s top leader is aimed at gauging the mood of the people towards BJP in Meghalaya and also to assess the ongoing party membership enrolment drive.
Shah’s proposed visit to the Hill State is being seen as a significant development as it is obviously clear that the BJP has begun early preparations for the 2018 Assembly polls in Meghalaya.
It is noteworthy that the BJP had secured maximum votes in some urban constituencies in the Lok Sabha polls held last year, an indication that the party was generating renewed interest among the voters.
The BJP had formed a State unit in 1991 and achieved its biggest success yet in the 1998 Assembly elections sending three legislators to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly – T.H. Rangad from Laban, A.L. Hek from Pynthorumkhrah and NN Simchang from Dalu in West Garo Hills.
After the death of BJP leader T.H. Rangad on July 4, 2003, his wife Jopsimon Phanbuh contested and won the Laban seat for the BJP. Hek also retained his Pynthorumkhrah seat. Simchang, however, failed to retain his seat.
In 2008, the BJP managed to win only one seat (Pynthorumkhrah), but the lone legislator (Hek) joined the Congress in 2009.
In the 2013 State Assembly polls, Hek against contested the seat from the Congress and won it. The BJP, meanwhile, could not win any seat in the 60-member House.