BJP looking forward to expand base in North East: Rajiv Pratap Rudy

SHILLONG: The BJP today said it will add Meghalaya, Tripura, Karnataka and Nagaland to the list of states where the party is in power.

From nine states in 2009, the saffron party has now formed the government in 19 states, senior BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy told journalists here.

"We are going to add more states to that list? it will start from Meghalaya, Tripura, Karnataka and Nagaland," Rudy said.

Meghalaya is set to go to polls on February 27 and the results will be announced on March 3.

The BJP has fielded candidates in 47 of the 60 seats in Meghalaya, while its ally at the Centre, the National Peoples' Party (NPP), is contesting alone in 53 seats.

Rudy expressed confidence that the saffron party will get a majority in the coming elections.

"We don't believe in fractured mandate. Do not get surprised by my confidence, I have been handling elections for last 30 years. We are confident of forming government in Meghalaya," he said.

The former Union minister also promised "the best of infrastructure" in the state, once its party comes to power.

"When it (BJP) forms the government, it will take all stakeholders on board and seek a consensus to find an outright solution (to the various contentious issues in the state)," he said.

Taking a dig at the ruling Congress, Rudy said he was "shocked" to see the party deviating from its agenda of development and trying to play the "secularism card" to garner votes.

"They (Congress) did not have a vote bank, they created one by splitting the society and they want to play that trick in Meghalaya?" he said.

The BJP has always been "sensitive" towards the needs of the people in different parts of the North East, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said.

"In fact, we have always raised questions over the change in the demographic profile of states like Assam and Tripura, where the influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh is on the rise," he noted.

The BJP will do everything to protect the identity of indigenous tribes in the North East, Kohli added.