Reacting to attacks from all sides, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today attacked its arch-rivals the Congress Party ahead of the February 27 Assembly election.
Yesterday, the Congress held a press conference to release its manifesto for the polls, where it made a series of pledges to the people if it is elected to power, such as free healthcare for all, free education for every girl child, quality roofing materials, free LPG and free electricity for every below poverty line (BPL) family.
Today, BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh attacked the Congress for its “bouquet of lies” press conference. Present in Shillong were Judy Shrong of the BJP’s state mahila morcha and Pynthorumkhrah MLA AL Hek.
The BJP claimed that the Congress’s campaign was a “mockery” of the people. Chugh said that the Congress has “always treated the North East in a stepmotherly fashion,” adding that it was only after the rise of Narendra Modi to the Prime Minister’s chair that the central government started focusing on the area.
Chugh also attacked the Congress for its many election promises, saying that they would ruin Meghalaya as they follow the “Sri Lankan model of bankruptcy”, referring to the island nation’s financial difficulties of late.
“The clouds of unemployment, of backwardness and the clouds that have chained Meghalaya and prevented it from moving forward, are all gifts of the Congress that the state did not want,” he said.
In a clear bid to stir up the fears of influx among Meghalayans, Chugh also said that the Congress wants to legalise all Bangladeshi immigrants. He did not mention how the BJP has spearheaded the Citizenship Amendment Act, a law almost universally reviled in the North East.
“Ethnicity, religion and identity are just some weapons in the Congress armoury that it uses to confine the people,” he stated in his lengthy diatribe. “The BJP, on the other hand, is the only party that truly seeks to preserve, record and promote the local traditions and cultures of all people.”
Hek also attacked the Congress, his former party until 2018. He said that in his experience the Congress was a party that was singularly focused on subjugating the people and gaining dominance over them and in filling their own coffers. Drawing attention to the apathy of the state during Congress rule, Hek said that Meghalaya now needed a pro-development, pro-people government that only the BJP could provide.
