Despite all the efforts to expand the party’s base in Meghalaya and the big predictions by some of its members, the BJP is only expecting to win around 10 to 15 seats in February 27 Meghalaya elections, state party president Ernest Mawrie said today.
The BJP won just two seats – South Shillong and Pynthorumkhrah – in the 2018 election but is now hoping to win up to a quarter of the 60 available in the Assembly.
The party’s hold on power at the Centre helped it be included in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government and it was awarded one seat in the cabinet.
Besides the two MLAs, the saffron party received a boost when four incumbent legislators joined the party recently – Ferlin Sangma, Samuel Sangma, Benedic Marak and Himalaya Shangpliang.
The BJP won 9.7 percent of the state vote in 2018 and Mawrie said that a party survey predicts a vote share this time of around 20 to 25 percent.
“We have started our election campaign with membership drives and so far we have been able to reach almost 1 lakh people who joined us,” Mawrie said, adding that the BJP will contest all 60 seats.
Even 10 seats will be enough to make the BJP a big player in the Assembly and these polls will also be a verdict on the leadership of Mawrie, who has been at the helm of affairs for several years now.
The BJP is yet to announce its list of candidates but the state unit has submitted the list of aspiring candidates to the party’s central election committee to make the final decision.
