SHILLONG: Former minister Manas Chaudhuri who resigned from the BJP on Monday, secured a Congress ticket to contest the forthcoming Assembly election from South Shillong constituency.
Earlier in the day, he tendered his resignation to the state president of BJP citing the existence of a huge gap between the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and the action of the party on the ground.
He along with his supporters who were elected as various booth level Karya Kartas, resigned from the party en masse protesting the BJP leadership’s decision to allot party poll ticket to Sanbor Shullai who recently joined the BJP by resigning from the Assembly as well as from the NCP.
Addressing media persons on Monday, Chaudhuri said, “I was given the green signal to go ahead and work in the South Shillong constituency. With all my efforts and sincerity, I have tried to nurture the base of the party.”
He informed that he had applied for BJP ticket from South Shillong constituency, but the ticket went to former MLA of the constituency, Sanbor Shullai.
According to him, the BJP took inordinately long time to declare poll candidates whose names were finally declared just three weeks before the polls.
He stated that he had joined the BJP on June on request from some of the top leaders of the BJP that he should serve the country through the BJP and from among the public.
“To me it is nothing personal whether they give me ticket or how I serve the country is different. But since I got an assurance from the top leaders of the party that ticket would be given to me until in the last moment when the sitting MLA got into the party through the backdoor and created an impression that BJP could win only through the sitting MLAs,” he added.
According to him, the act of the BJP is “wrong” and not the kind of culture that people want. He pointed out that Shullai had many cases pending against him which included the RTI revelation and nepotism allegations.
Stating that the constituents and the BJP were campaigning against Shullai for all the “wrong things” he has done in all the five years, Chaudhuri expressed surprise that the BJP “imposed” the same candidate on the constituents.
Lashing out at the BJP for taking Shullai as “chosen, efficient, winnable candidate”, he said, “I don’t know how BJP is a party with a difference if you are looking at only winning elections and not doing the right thing.”
Asserting that they are disillusioned with arbitrary decision taken by the high command of the BJP, Chaudhuri said, “Their deeds and words are not matching. Therefore, this needs to be protested and the best protest is to say that we are severing ties with the party.”
He observed that the BJP was a non-existent party in Meghalaya and it was difficult to build up from the party from the grassroots.
He pointed to the allegations of religious intolerance of the party across the state over beef ban issue. “We as member of the party tried very hard to convince and I tell you, it has been very difficult for people to buy our arguments because a lot of it is shallow. It does not sell,” he said.
Rajya Sabha seat
Asked, if he had been offered a Rajya Sabha seat by the BJP, Chaudhuri said he had declined as he maintained that he would not be able to serve the people of another state but wished to stay in Meghalaya.
