SHILLONG: The state president of BJP, Shibun Lyngdoh, has said that doors of the party are open for Congress MLAs if majority of them come over, but none has so far approached officially.
Talking to The Shillong Times, Lyngdoh said that it is natural for Congress MLAs, who are in the Opposition, to want to cross over, but since the anti defection law does not allow them to shift to other political parties individually, at least two-third of them will be required before they can join BJP.
He, however, said that the party officially has not received any feelers from the Congress MLAs to join the party though BJP MLA and Health Minister AL Hek may have had discussions with some Congress MLAs at his personal level.
Hek had earlier said that he had held talks with five Congress MLAs and three of them had expressed their willingness to join the saffron party while two others refused.
It may be mentioned that most of the partners of the MDA government, including BJP, NPP and UDP, have claimed that many of the Congress MLAs have already approached them to shift their allegiance. However, the Congress claims that their MLAs are united.
Membership drive
The BJP has targeted to enroll over 2 lakh members during the ongoing membership drive in the state.
Shibun said that the drive was launched on July 6 and it will continue till August 11.
Expressing confidence that it would be able to enroll more than 2 lakh members, he said that the party is aggressively carrying out the drive in all the districts.
Presently, the saffron party has a membership of over 45,000 in the state.
Meanwhile, the party is awaiting word from the central leadership to go for organisational elections which are long due.
The term of the office bearers of the party is for three years but due to the recent general elections, the internal exercise could not be taken up.
When asked if he is looking for a second term as the state president, Shibun said that he would serve the party in any position assigned to him.
It may be mentioned that the party currently has two MLAs in Meghalaya, including Cabinet Minister, AL Hek, and Sanbor Shullai.
