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SHILLONG — BJP Minister in Meghalaya A.L. Hek has dismissed the allegations against the National People’s Party (NPP) that the latter has damaged the party’s prospect in the state by forcing them not to field candidates in the Lok Sabha polls.
He told IANS on Friday, “I have not seen the NPP doing anything wrong with the BJP.”
Earlier, BJP state vice president Bernard N. Marka had alleged that the NPP legislator from the Mahendraganj Assembly seat, Sanjay A. Sangma insulted the sentiments of the BJP supporters in the state by saying that NPP is a bigger force in Meghalaya and compelled the BJP not to field any candidate in the Lok Sabha polls.
Marka demanded an apology from Sangma and also drew the attention of other state BJP leaders on this issue.
Reacting to the incident, Minister Hek said, “This is the opinion of a single person; the NPP is not to blame. The decision of not fielding candidates in two parliamentary seats in Meghalaya was taken by the top leadership of the BJP.”
The minister also said the issue has already been discussed with Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.
“In this poll, the target is to achieve 400 plus seats for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Therefore, I request all the BJP leaders and workers to abstain from any form of provocation,” Hek added.
Minister Hek said, "Our target is for BJP and the NDA (partners should) to win 400 seats," he added.
Notably, BJP and NPP have been partners in the ruling government in Meghalaya since 2018. However, both parties fought the 2023 Assembly elections separately and the poll campaign witnessed fierce attacks between the allies.
But soon after the poll results were announced, the BJP extended support to the NPP to form the government in the state.
For the Lok Sabha polls, NPP announced its candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Meghalaya in December last year. BJP had announced last month that it will not field candidates in Meghalaya and the party would support NPP.
Later, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this decision.