Meghalaya BJP slams CM on Assam remarks

Shillong, Apr 9: A day after Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma described the BJP as "a threat to country's unity", the saffron party's Meghalaya unit today hit back saying Sangma was worried because the BJP could come to power in Assam.

"Sangma's concern for the BJP in quite natural. Being a physician, he could feel the pulse of the Assam electorate who are ready to reject the Congress in this assembly polls," BJP general secretary Dipayan Chakraborty said reacting to Sangma's comment at a press conference yesterday in Guwahati where he had gone for election campaigning.

Chakraborty said Sangma, a Congress leader, was concerned that after the BJP became a force to reckon with in Assam, it might have an impact in neighbouring Meghalaya.

He said the Chief Minister who went to the neighboring state should have apologized to the people of Assam on behalf of the Congress that he and his Assam counterpart have not been able to settle the boundary issue.

Apparently referring to the frequent reports of dissidence within the state Congress, the BJP leader said Sangma seems to have lost the faith of even his own party MLAs in the state.

"Expectations were high when he became the Chief Minister but he has failed miserably and his government looks to be completely in ICU," he said.

PTI