Meghalaya BJP open to pushing A L Hek as party nominee for Shillong Lok Sabha seat:::: ‘Viksit Bharat yatra will make people aware of central schemes’

Snior BJP leader and sitting MLA, AL Hek. could be one of the probable candidates for the prestigious Shillong Lok Sabha seat from Meghalaya, BJP leader and state unit spokesman Mariahom Kharkrang said.

 “I have seen in the papers. If we can have AL Hek, a six-time MLA, as our candidate; it would be wonderful," he told reporters answering questions. 

He also said that the party is open to the idea of fielding a woman candidate subject to eligibility. BJP's ally in the state, NPP led by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, has already announced the names of two women candidates Ampareen Lyngdoh and his sister Agatha Sangma for Shillong and Tura parliamentary seats in the state. 

Ms Ampareen (Left) and Ms Agatha Sangma

Mariahom Kharkrang

The Meghalaya unit of the BJP also said on Friday, Dec 1, that the strategy of the NPP to distance itself from the saffron party ahead of any election in Meghalaya is nothing more than an election gimmick.

“These remarks are part of the electoral politics (in Meghalaya). There is nothing new in this and it is not strange,” said BJP spokesperson Mariahom Kharkrang reacting to NPP’s Shillong candidate Ampareen Lyngdoh’s statement that “the myth of NPP being synonymous with the BJP has to be dispelled”.

“NPP has its own identity. We are not going to be subverted by any ideas or ideologies which are averse to the people of the state. We are members of the MDA and there is absolutely no harm in being coalition partners in the MDA,” she had said. 

In 2023 assembly polls, BJP and NPP fought against each other and in which the saffron party managed to poll 9.33 percent of votes from the 59 candidates it fielded. The party, however, could win two seats only including Mr A L Hek, also a former Minister.

Hek retained the prestigious Pynthorumkhrah assembly seat polling 9321 votes and had defeated his nearest Congress party rival. The lotus party shares power with the NPP yet again as they did between 2018 and 2023. Hek is the Minister for Animal Husbandry, Veterinary and Fisheries Departments. 

The BJP in Meghalaya intends to address the age-old problem of central schemes not reaching the beneficiaries through the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.

In one of its reports, the Comptroller and Auditor General had mentioned how people are missing out on the benefits of central schemes.

“The Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is the whole idea of having this. The mobile vans are going to interior villages and telling people that they are entitled to these schemes and registration is being done. This means the villagers need not go to the block offices or travel 20-30 km through this Yatra,” state BJP’s chief spokesperson Mariahom Kharkrang said on Friday.

From time to time, the BJP leadership highlights how the Centre-sponsored schemes are not being implemented adequately in the state, resulting in the citizens losing out on the benefits.

Stating that the Yatra is being held across the state, Kharkrang said, “It is because of this Yatra that the needy people came to know about the  various central government schemes and numerous people could take advantage of them.”

“Through this Yatra, the government is reaching out to the people who need basic amenities like sanitation facilities, financial services, LPG connections, housing, food security, healthcare and other benefits. People are being educated about various schemes. Enrolment for most of the schemes is done on the spot,” he added.

The BJP leader said the central government is also learning from the citizens in the process so that further schemes can be worked out or the existing ones can be improved. He claimed that no government in the past tried to reach out to the people in this manner.

Kharkrang said the Yatra has nothing to do with next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

“Maybe, the central government feels there are more people to reach out to and they realised that there are genuine reasons why these people cannot be reached out to. That is why, we are now going to them,” he said.

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