SHILLONG, AUG 14: NPP leader Rakkam A Sangma on Tuesday said the party high command would take a call on the BJP’s decision to support the Congress from Tura parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha election.
His statement came in the wake of the recent revelation made ahead of the Gambegre bye-poll by the BJP leader and Tura MDC Bernard N Marak that Tura MP Saleng A Sangma had sought the saffron party’s support during the parliamentary election held earlier this year.
“I don’t want to comment on this as our high command will take a call on this,” Rakkam told reporters here.
“Last time, a fake video was circulated and people painted BJP and NPP with the same brush but now it’s an open secret and people know who is a real friend of somebody, it has come to light. This is something which was unexpected. The hidden has been discovered,” he said.
Rakkam has also termed the BJP’s support to NPP as “fake” and said, “The so-called fake coalition have cost us”.
Saleng defeated NPP’s Agatha K Sangma by a huge margin.
The NPP leader further claimed that his party has never sought the support of the BJP during the Lok Sabha election and said, “In fact, it was the BJP who decided not to field the candidate and they have directed the BJP voters and cadres to vote for NPP whereas the cadres in Meghalaya worked in different way. It is clear now.”
Following the debacle in the parliamentary election, Rakkam said that the NPP’s supremo and Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had made it very clear that in the future, the party will fight elections on its own and will say no to pre-poll alliance with any political party.
Asked, the cabinet minister however said that breaking ties with the BJP does not arise as of now. According to him, the recent sanction of Rs 2500 crore for MITP projects is the benefit of the coalition we had with the Centre government.
Further, Rakkam said that the Gambegre election will be a crucial election for the NPP.
“We are working hard and people have understood the clear picture,” he added.
The NPP has announced the name of chief minister’s wife Mehtab Chandi Agitok Sangma as the official candidate of the party for the upcoming Gambegre bye poll.
Recently, Bernard had stated, “He (Saleng) should thank the BJP for not fielding a candidate in the election. He should be grateful that even I did not contest as Independent. I fail to understand why he (Saleng) speaks against BJP, when BJP has supported him for his victory.”
Marak had said that Sangma personally visited him and requested him not to contest as independent and support his candidature.
Marak had remarked that if BJP would have contested, the victory margin for Saleng Sangma would have been thin.
He had also said that BJP supporters were reluctant to vote for the National People’s Party (NPP) despite directives from the central high command. “BJP supporters in Garo Hills were not willing to support NPP,” he also added.
