Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA for Pynthorumkhrah, AL Hek, today said that the party will contest more than 40 seats in next year’s state election and will go it alone as far as pre-poll alliances go.
Hek was speaking at an event where more than 150 people from the Mawsynram area formally joined the party.
Yesterday, Hek suggested that Mawsynram MLA Himalaya Shangpliang, of the Trinamool Congress, could switch allegiance to the BJP ahead of the polls.
The BJP has been making much of its gain in strength in Garo Hills but Hek said that the party is also spreading its wings in Khasi-Jaintia Hills.
“You will see in the coming days that MLAs, ex-MLAs and more people from different constituencies will be joining us,” he said, adding that the party has the strongest leaders under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is a big draw for the public.
He expressed happiness that the party strength in Mawsynram has also grown and maintained that those who joined are from various political parties and not only supporters of Shangpliang. As the first-time MLA has not joined the BJP, Hek said that it is impossible to say whether he would be the party candidate come 2023.
Former vice-president of the TMC, Rudy Shangpliang said that the people from Mawsynram decided to join the BJP because of the various development work and upliftment of farmers that the party has brought in these eight years.
“Even in the remotest corner of our constituency people know about the BJP under Narendra Modi and we believe that it is only the BJP that can bring development to us,” he said, adding that the TMC has failed to make an impact in Mawsynram.
