Voice of the People Party (VPP) president Ardent M. Basaiawmoit today slammed Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma for his remarks blaming ‘a particular religion’ for the loss of the BJP and its allies in Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur.
Sarma had on June 4 said, “In Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur a particular religion went against NDA. That has made the difference as that religion has tremendous followers in those states. It is not a political defeat. Nobody can fight against a religion.”
Condemning the statement made by Sarma that a particular religion in Meghalaya was the cause for the defeat of the NDA candidate, Basaiawmoit termed Sarma as a “habitual loose talker” and asked him to mind his “own backyard”.
“He has no right whatsoever to interfere in the affairs of the state of Meghalaya as far as the recent Lok Sabha election is concerned,” he added.
The VPP chief said that the Church in Meghalaya has never involved itself in electoral politics.
He said that in a democratic country like India the people of Meghalaya have the right to choose or elect any person as long as he is the citizen of the country.
“However as a community we will choose to elect a party or a candidate which believes in the Constitution of India. Respect the provision of the Constitution of India, believe in secularism and the party that protects the interest of the minority communities,” the VPP chief said.
Basaiawmoit said that the people of Meghalaya are not so naive not to know about the aims and objectives and agendas of political parties that are taking part in this election.
Stating that citizens of this democratic country citizens have the liberty to choose any party they like, the VPP chief also said that one cannot expect that as a Christian one would vote or elect a person who belongs to a party that stands against the Constitution of India, that is not secular and which is also a threat to the minority of the country.
He said that the statement of Sarma was unfounded, baseless and communal in nature.
According to Basaiawmoit, the Assam Chief Minister’s statement was only to mislead the people and try to create communal disharmony in the country.
He also said that many controversial statements by Sarma in the past have brought shame to the people of Assam and has affected the sentiments of the people of Meghalaya.
Basaiawmoit also said that it is unbecoming on the part of the Chief Minister of Assam to pass such remarks on another state of the country.
