SHILLONG:
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Meghalaya unit president Ernest Mawrie has refuted the claim of former member and ex-legislator, Himalaya Muktan Shangpliang, that he never asked for a ticket to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Shillong seat nor was there any discussion about a common candidate.
“On the day of counting of votes, within an hour after learning that he (Shangpliang) had lost the elections, he called me up saying he wanted to meet me. We met at his house in the presence of Dipayan Chakravarty, state vice-president and Sarwan Jhunjhunwala, treasurer, where he himself offered to contest the MP election from the BJP,” Mawrie told reporters on Saturday.
In reply, the state BJP president told Shangpliang that that was a good idea but the party would discuss it at an appropriate time since the final decision will come from the central leadership even as he added that he does not want to speak on the subject anymore since the latter has now left the party.
On Shangpliang’s allegations that Mawrie had asked Cabinet minister Alexander Laloo Hek to tear up the letter recommending his name to the state government to give some assignment in the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance 2.0, the state BJP chief said that it was not true.
“As per our discussions with Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, we recommended six names, including that of Shangpliang, which was at the top of our list and we sent it to Delhi for approval (from the central leaders) since we cannot bypass them. They will approve the names and send it to the chief minister for his consideration,” Mawrie said.
He said that nominating names is not his prerogative but he can only recommend as the state president of the party.
“His allegations are not true. I am a mature person and for me to say such words is not possible. I only told Bah Hek we will try to recommend the names of senior leaders and ex-MLAs to accommodate them as political appointees if possible,” Mawrie said.
The state BJP chief said that he did not interfere in the appointment process and the allegations were made without any basis.