SHILLONG, Nov 1: The central leadership of the BJP is likely to take a call on the withdrawal of support from the MDA government after the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls.
BJP state president Ernest Mawrie said the party’s central leadership will decide whether or not to pull out from the NPP-led government after the Assembly elections in the northern Indian state are over on November 12.
It was on September 3 that BJP’s Meghalaya in-charge M Chuba Ao said the party will withdraw support from the MDA government within a month. Almost two months have passed since. Mawrie said only the central leadership of the party can take the final decision for a state unit to withdraw from or remain with an alliance.
He also said the state BJP has apprised its central leadership and the Ministry of Home Affairs about the law-and-order problems in the state capital after which the ministry instructed the state government to restore peace.
Asserting that it is the duty of the state government to handle the situation, Mawrie said the recent (October 28) incident is proof of the failure of the Home Department, administration and police.
Asking people to maintain peace, Mawrie lamented that the tourism sector will take a beating if law-and-order problems occur frequently in the city and people depending entirely on tourism for their livelihood will be hit hard.
He also said the frequent breakdown of law and order has begun to strike fear among the tourists.
Bernard will contest polls
Mawrie said Bernard N Marak, the jailed state vice-president of the BJP and Tura MDC, will contest the 2023 elections from the South Tura seat against Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.
He said this while referring to a ruling of the Election Commission of India that a person is eligible to contest polls until he or she is convicted of any crime.
Terming the cases against Marak as political vendetta, Mawrie said the BJP is solidly behind Marak.
He said the bails granted by the high court and the lower court to Marak in some cases indicate that there is no substantial evidence against him.
