NEW DELHI: Riven by intense infighting and factional squabbles, both the BJP and the Congress are finding it an uphill task to declare the names of their candidates for the forthcoming Assembly polls in Meghalaya, sources divulged. While the Congress is yet to announce candidates in three constituencies, the BJP has still not published its first list.
The BJP, which began with high hopes, is now divided into two factions in the state. NEDA supremo Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union minister in charge of the state Alphons are locked in a bitter dispute over choice of candidates – the reason behind the inordinate delay in announcement of candidates.
Though the BJP list is likely to be announced on Friday, the fight is far from over, sources said.
Moreover, in almost every constituency – barring a few – the BJP has two candidates who were earlier with the party and who had defected only recently thereby making matters all the more complicated for the party.
On the other hand, the Congress, smarting under waves of desertions, still hopes that some of its leaders who have defected would return to the party fold if denied a ticket by the BJP. Party president Rahul Gandhi, back in New Delhi after a quick tour of the state, on Thursday held meetings with a handful of leaders from the region following which, expectedly, the party would declare its candidates in the remaining three seats, sources indicated.
