Reposing full faith in Tura MDC Bernard N Marak’s leadership ahead of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) elections, Meghalaya BJP President Rikman G Momin on Saturday asserted that Marak will surely produce more MDC members of District Council for the party. He also stated that he as the state BJP president will not tolerate any internal division among its elected MDCs this time. Making it clear that all party representatives must follow a unified stand post-elections, Momin said, “Last time, you will ask again — one was with ruling and one with opposition — that is actually very surprising for me. Now I will not allow such things. If we want to support, we will support — but not one or two separately.”
The State BJP Chief while emphasizing the need for discipline within the ranks, highlighted the BJP’s preparedness for the GHADC polls and expressed confidence in Bernard Marak’s ability to deliver. “This GHADC election also Bernard Marak will win. I think he will produce more MDC members of District Council for us. He is a good leader, talented leader. So we coordinate with him to work in Garo Hills. I always coordinate with him, he always coordinates with me — we work together. So definitely we will produce more MDCs in Garo Hills.”
Ruling out any pre poll alliance with the National People’s Party (NPP) for the upcoming council elections, Momin made the party’s position clear. “In the state, whatever the election is — whether it’s MLA or MDC — we are going to fight on our own. This time only for parliamentary elections we supported NPP,” he said.
On preparations, he added, “Preparation of Garo Hills Autonomous District Council Elections, we have started. We are identifying the candidates for Garo Hills. Local elections we are not going to tie up with NPP.”
With the BJP banking on Bernard Marak’s influence and asserting strict internal coherence, the party is set to contest the GHADC elections on its own terms in a bid to expand its footprint across Garo Hills.
