The BJP is continuously touting the benefits of having governments led by the same party at both the central and state levels but this is a complete myth, the Voice of the People Party (VPP) said today.
The VPP is a new organisation that is led by former MLA Ardent Basaiawmoit and is hoping to make an entrance into the Assembly at the next state election in 2023.
VPP vice-president Kara H Chen today disagreed with the BJP’s stance, saying that there have been many problems in states ruled by the saffron party in the last eight years in which the BJP has also dominated the central government.
“I would differ with the double engine benefit claimed because if you look at the BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, there are a lot of public complaints there,” Chen told reporters at a press conference during the announcement of Avner Pariat who has joined the VPP.
He said that there is no reality in the claims of the BJP, which are misleading.
“We have seen what is happening in this Gujarat election. The anti-incumbency in Gujarat is very high and people are not happy. The voter turnout is also very low because the performance of the government in Gujarat is not enough,” Chen maintained.
With regards to the recent comment made by senior advocate VGK Kynta, who joined the BJP, that regional parties only swim in “small ponds”, Chen said that this is what Kynta feels because he has now joined the BJP and thinks that everyone will follow the same route.
“There are states ruled by regional parties, like Mizoram, Tamil Nadu, etc and they are performing very well,” he added.
With regards to money power during elections, Chen stated that the VPP stands by its principle and whether it wins or loses it will contest the polls without money power.
“In a democracy, if you win elections by buying the people and their votes then the government and the legislators that come are also not legitimate because they did not come into power by the will of the people but through money influence,” he said, adding that a politician who wins election with money is not bothered about the people after elections because they were bought from the start.
Stressing on the party ideology, he added, “What our state lacks at present is clean politics and governance. Development becomes pointless if there is no clean governance and if the interests of the people are not protected.”
