Democracy demonetised in Meghalaya, says Rahul

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who returned after a weekend trip to Italy, on Monday attacked the BJP, saying it has "usurped power in Meghalaya through a proxy" and called it "demonetisation of democracy".

He said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was "obsessed with grabbing power using big money to create an opportunistic alliance".

Using a hashtag, he mentioned that "democracy has been demonetised" in Meghalaya and said the "BJP was showing utter disregard for the mandate of people in the state".

"With just two seats, the BJP has usurped power in Meghalaya, through a proxy.

"Like in Manipur and Goa, showing utter disregard for the mandate of the people. Obsessed instead with grabbing power, using big money to create an opportunistic alliance," tweeted Gandhi and described it as #DemocracyDemonetised.

Earlier in the day, Gandhi said his party respected the mandate of the people of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya where the Congress failed to come to power in the recently-concluded assembly polls.

In a tweet, Gandhi said the Congress had accepted the mandate but would strive to win back the trust of the electorate in the Northeast.

"The Congress party respects the mandate of the people of Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. We are committed to strengthening our party across the Northeast and to winning back the trust of the people.

"My sincere thanks to each and every Congress worker who toiled for the party," Gandhi tweeted.

Gandhi was in Italy to meet his grandmother when the election results were announced. He came back early on Monday.

The Congress emerged as the single largest party with 21 seats in Meghalaya but drew a blank in Nagaland and Tripura.

Even in Meghalayam it did not get enough numbers to form government.

The BJP which won two seats in the state cobbled up a post-poll alliance led by the National People's Party (NPP), which bagged 19 seats. Others constituting the alliance are UDP (6), PDF (4), HSPDP (2) and Independent (1), which together form majority in the 60-member assembly.

--IANS

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