BJP has no fixed Hindutva agenda for the states in North East.

No Hindutva for BJP in Nagaland-Meghalaya, local issues dominate.

No Hindutva in Nagaland-Meghalaya, local issues dominate: 75 out of 80 BJP candidates Christians, 55 out of 56 Trinamool candidates in Meghalaya. As such BJP sets only 6% Hindu candidates in these two states when there is 8.75% Hindus in Nagaland and 11.53% Hindus in Meghalaya.

Muskan Kumawat | Sangri Today Online | Shillong  | Feb 23, 2023:: Voting for the assembly elections is on February 27 in Nagaland and Meghalaya. Both the states are Christian majority. 75% of Meghalaya’s population are Christians. Whereas, about 88% of the population in Nagaland follows Christianity. The regional parties and the Congress are trying their old ways to woo the voters in these states. At the same time, BJP’s strategy for these states is quite different from other states of the country.

BJP’s focus here is on local issues instead of Hindutva. The BJP’s strategy in Nagaland and Meghalaya is largely the same. In Meghalaya, the party is contesting all 60 seats. In Nagaland, the BJP is in the fray with 20 candidates. Of the total 80 candidates, 75 are Christians and the rest are non-Hindu. The Congress has given tickets to a large number of Christians in both states.

Meghalaya Congress coordinator Babita Sharma did not give numbers but indicated that almost all the candidates are Christians. Sharma said, Congress does not give tickets on the basis of religion or caste. Almost all of the 23 in the Congress in Nagaland are from the tribal Christian community. TMC is not contesting in Nagaland but in Meghalaya, 55 out of 56 candidates are Christians.

BJP’s strategy is to work on the agenda of development leaving aside the controversial issues. BJP leaders are holding a meeting with the office bearers of the church. The situation is reversed here for the BJP which opposes beef. Meghalaya BJP President Ernest Mowry has already said that he eats beef and the party has no objection.

In Meghalaya, the BJP fielded candidates for 48 out of 60 seats in 2018, winning two of them. The BJP was part of the government along with the NPP. This time BJP is fighting on all the seats. His strategy is to connect with each and every voter, as the voter seeks a connection with the candidate.

The BJP has been connecting people in every state, including Nagaland, by honouring local heroes and organizing events in their memory. Prime Minister Modi attended the birth anniversary program of Rani Gaidinliu.

Other opposition parties including Congress and Trinamool are calling BJP anti-Christian. The Congress said, in a Congress-ruled state like Chhattisgarh, the BJP is organizing attacks on churches. She is talking of development to win elections in the Northeast.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally in Shillong on Wednesday. The Trinamool Congress spent a huge amount in Goa because their idea was to help the BJP, he said. In Meghalaya too, TMC’s aim is to bring BJP to power. On the other hand, Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee said, the party will not allow people coming from outside to impose CAA and NRC on the residents of the northeastern state.

…

Courtesy: Sangri Times.

Meghalaya elections: BJP eyes big win at Dalu by consolidating Hindu votes.

Kangkan Kalita | TNN | Guwahati | Feb 23, 20223:: Riding on Hindus votes from ethnic communities and Bengali  inhabitants, BJP is eyeing a big win in the Dalu seat in Meghalaya’s West  Garo Hills by fielding Akki A Sangma, a Christian candidate from the Garo community.

Dalu was a major transit route for the Hindu refugees in 1960 who entered India after fleeing East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Hundreds of these refugees from Koch, Hajong and other ethnic communities later settled in various parts of Assam with a dream of better life.

BJP leaders, however, claimed that none of them or their descendants in Dalu are refugees, but inhabitants “of this land”.

Nitya Narayan Simchang became the first BJP MLA from the Garo Hills in 1998 by winning from Dalu where besides Bengali Hindus, plain tribe Dalu and ethnic communities have been playing a determining role in West Garo Hills. Since then, BJP never won here.

In the last assembly election, BJP’s Kurosh Marak lost only by a slender margin of 726 votes here at the hands of Brening Sangma of NPP. But this time round, BJP wants to repeat  repeat history in Dalu by fielding 30-year-old businessman-turned-politician Akki A Sangma.

Akki said his goal is to work for the welfare of the people of Dalu which has 22,000 voters of which 7000 are Hindus.

“Chief minister Conrad Sangma makes tall claims of successful implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, but hundreds of families in Dalu still drink water from many small rivers. For treatment, I personally took the initiative to take people to Tura Civil Hospital, which is a two-hour-long journey. There is still not a single government run-college in the entire constituency,” rued Akki.

Read also: I eat beef, BJP has no issues with it, says Meghalaya party state president Ernest Mawrie

With nine candidates in fray in Dalu (from NPP, BJP, TMC, UDP, Congress, RPI and three independents), BJP insiders said consolidating Hindu votes will ensure saffron victory this time.

For the Hindu voters, however, more than its religious inclination, lack of development under successive governments has been the concern. “We have seen successive governments but not development. Hopefully, we will get somebody in the ministry again to focus on this neglected constituency,” said Amarnath Koch, a villager.

Majority of the population largely depends on government’s beneficiary schemes and are eking out a living as daily wagers, selling vegetables and running small shops as the local economy is in the doldrums in the absence of any industry. The hilly areas have mostly Garo population, having around 14,000 voters, while Hindus are in the plains.

“We hope Akki will get a ministerial berth by winning over 90% of Hindu votes and considerable votes of Garos,” said Shubhra Jyoti Kalita, BJP vistarak (incharge) in Dalu.

…

Courtesy: TOI.

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