‘BJP Claims Victory Of Regional Parties As Its Own’

GUWAHATI, March 3 (PTI): The BJP’s claim that it had formed governments in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura is not entirely accurate as it has negligible presence in the first two states, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), a regional party, said on Friday.

The BJP contested the polls in alliance with the regional party NDPP in Nagaland and in Meghalaya, where the party fought on its own, it managed to win only two seats, AJP general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan said.

“We can safely say that the real political power still lies with the regional parties in Meghalaya and Nagaland,” he told PTI.

In Tripura, the third state where the assembly election was held last month, the BJP’s tally came down to 32 from 36 and its ally to one from eight, Bhuyan said.

The two parties fought the 2018 assembly election together and dethroned the Left Front.

On the other hand, the Tipra Motha, which contested for the first time in the state elections, secured 13 seats and “this speaks volumes on its popularity and success in the state”, the AJP leader pointed out.

In Nagaland, the BJP contested in 20 seats but won only 12 and it is the regional political party NDPP, which has managed to win 25 seats out of 40 to give the alliance a majority figure.

“Therefore, it is actually the NDPP that has any real influence in the state and not the BJP,” he added.

Bhuyan said in Meghalaya, BJP broke off its alliance with the ruling NPP just before the elections levelling serious charges of corruption on the Conrad Sangma-led government and decided to fight alone, managing to secure only two seats as per the latest reports.

“Thus, we can conclude that contrary to BJP’s claim of popularity and power in the Northeast, the real power here has always resided with regional political parties,” the AJP leader said.

AJP congratulates the NDDP and the NPP for their victory in Nagaland and Meghalaya respectively.

“We also congratulate Pradyot Kishore Debbarma for Tipra Motha’s stupendous performance in their fight for the rights of the indigenous people,” Bhuyan added.