The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has found itself in an embarrassing position after a letter from its minority morcha leader had called for the central government to start mining uranium in Meghalaya.
Elizabeth Matthews Nongbri had spoken in favour of uranium mining, even though the subject is highly emotive and the public apparently dead set against it.
Nongbri is the BJP’s national executive member in the minority wing. She had written to the central government on behalf of the North East Sunshine Trust, which she founded, offering NEST’s services to pave the way for uranium extraction.
However, after the leaked letter provoked fury, she clarified that it had only been a draft and was never sent.
Sources in the party informed that many leaders are putting pressure on state party president Rikman Momin to take action against Nongbri.
According to these sources, the local BJP leaders are very upset and a few have even written to the BJP’s national president JP Nadda to remove her from the minority cell due to the damage her letter has caused.
However, neither Momin nor the BJP member in charge of Meghalaya, M Chuba Ao, have said anything publicly on the subject. The sources say that Nongbri had hoped to be nominated as a Rajya Sabha MP but her request was not approved. Nevertheless, she apparently enjoys the support of Ao and others in New Delhi.
When contacted for a reaction, Meghalaya BJP spokesperson Mariahom Kharkrang said that Nongbri’s views do not represent those of the state BJP.
