Expanding on Amit Shah’s assertion that Mizoram will celebrate the next Christmas under a BJP government, senior party leader Himanta Biswa Sarma has said the saffron party has never been a danger to the Christian community and would never be so in future.
Addressing party workers at the BJP office, Atal Bhawan, in Aizawl Thursday evening, Sarma, who is BJP’s election in-charge of Mizoram, said all religious communities have peacefully co-existed in BJP-ruled states in the north-east region.
“The saffron party has never been a danger to Christians and would never be so in future,” said Sarma, Assam’s finance minister and convener of North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA).
NEDA is a political coalition formed by the BJP and regional political parties of the northeastern states in 2016.
Addressing a statewide booth-level workers meeting in Aizawl on Wednesday, Shah, pointing to a huge gathering, said, “After seeing so many of you here, I am reassured that the next Christmas Mizoram celebrates will be a Christmas under a BJP government.”
He said he wanted to thank his Christian brothers and sisters in Nagaland and Meghalaya for their support.
Shah’s assertions were seen aimed at shedding the “anti-Christian party” image of the BJP before going to polls in the Christian-dominated Mizoram.
Voting for the 40-member Mizoram Assembly is slated for November 28. Shah has made it clear that BJP would contest the poll in the state on its own.
Echoing Shah’s optimism about installing a BJP government in Mizoram before Christmas, Sarma expressed hope that the BJP would form a government after the coming election to the state assembly.
Sarma accused the Congress party of using religious sentiments for political advantage while the BJP wanted peaceful harmony, love and fraternity among all religious communities.
“The BJP would contest the poll on its own and is hopeful of winning as the Mizo people deserve a good government and good governance,” he said, adding that only the BJP could usher in a good governance and all-round development.
(With inputs from agencies.)