(NDTV)
BJP chief Amit Shah, on Saturday, began a three-day whirlwind tour of three northeastern states – Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland – which will witness assembly polls this year. The party already rules three northeastern states – Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh – and aims to eventually bring all eight states into its kitty. The party is hoping to wrest power from the Congress in Meghalaya and the Left in Tripura. It is already a part of the alliance that rules Nagaland.
After a brief stop at Guwahati to visit the famous Kamakhya temple, the 53-year-old party chief’s first stop was Meghalaya. The BJP wants to end the 15-year rule of the Congress, which is already facing a wave of defections by its lawmakers.
Over the last couple of weeks, the Congress has lost seven of its 30 legislators in the 60-seat assembly – most of them to the National People’s Party, a BJP ally which is also part of the ruling alliance in Manipur. Among their ranks is a former Deputy Chief Minister, Rowell Lyngdoh, who commands a chunk of Khasi tribe votes in khasi hills region.
The BJP’s chief strategist in the North East, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has put together rainbow alliances with regional parties to win Assam last year and to form government in Manipur this year. In Meghalaya, where the party won a single seat in the 2008 assembly elections, Mr Sarma has planned a similar strategy.
