Ka Sur U Paidbah Ka Bri U Hynniewtrep has come out against the formation of another governing alliance by the National People’s Party (NPP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Speaking to reporters at a press conference here today, the group’s advisor, Erwin K Sutnga, who was at last count in the Congress Party camp, said that a government without these two parties is necessary if Meghalaya is to be free of corruption.
During campaigning, the BJP never let up in its criticism of the NPP, with figures as high as Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two of the top party leaders, accusing the NPP of rampant corruption over the previous five years. However, as soon as the election results were in yesterday, the BJP wasted no time in publicly professing its willingness to work with the NPP once again, which the latter accepted despite all the mudslinging of the weeks prior.
One of the other reasons to keep the NPP and BJP out of power is in order to reexamine the border deal struck with Assam last year to resolve part of the territorial dispute between Meghalaya and the neighbouring state, Sutnga said, since the NPP was the architect of the deal on the Meghalaya side, while the BJP, which runs Assam, led the way for the other side.
When asked about the NPP emerging as the single largest party, Sutnga said it won 26 seats, just short of a majority, by bribing voters with cash, liquor and other incentives.
