Shillong, Dec 1: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will soon decide the time for releasing its candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections to be held early next year.
Speaking to reporters here on Friday, BJP leader in-charge election in Meghalaya, Alphons Joseph Kannanthanam said that a meeting will be held on December 8, 9 and 10 to discuss the issue where national general secretary Ram Madhav would also visit the state to attend the meeting.
On application for aspirants vying for BJP ticket, Alphons said that a survey was being conducted by talking to people because it is the electorate who will decide, as the party was building its databank on the winnability of candidates in different constituencies.
He said that the BJP is planning to contest from all the 60 Assembly seats in the upcoming polls.
Asked if the “mission 40” of the BJP in Meghalaya would be accomplished by taking MLAs from other parties after the 2018 Assembly elections for forming a BJP-led government, Alphons who evaded directly reply said, “I think the most important thing in Meghalaya is to throw out the most corrupt government in the history of India. If you look at our history, you will always see that our party has been able to put into place a government which is able to deliver.”
When questioned as to why the BJP has to get same people including MLAs from other parties instead of projecting fresh faces, Alphons defended sayng, “in politics, you cannot really get completely new faces. We need people with experience. We will run a government which is part of the Prime Minister’s dream, to run a government which is honest and not corrupt.”
To another query that MLAs who did not perform should be voted, the BJP leader said, “anywhere where MLAs do not deliver on basic things, they should be voted out. But the biggest culprit is the chief minister. Look at the state of affairs in the state, does anybody get jobs here, most pathetic roads. Roads in the state are in a condition taking you four and half hours to travel for 80 km. Where has the money gone Mr chief minister?, You have stolen people’s money, you don’t do simple things of repairing of roads, you are breaking people’s back without a road. How do people go to hospitals?”
He also said that all states have paid seventh pay commission, but here employees are not paid.
To a question that the BJP is alleged to be political wing of RSS, Alphons said that the BJP is not a political wing of the RSS at all.
“I am a Christian myself. I love to be a Christina, an Indian, and a nationalist. Not one stone was thrown at Christian, Churches or one Christian beaten up in the last three years,” he said.
