http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080121/jsp/northeast/story_8803739.jsp
BJP banks on split-vote tactic - Party announces candidates for Meghalaya and Tripura NISHIT DHOLABHAI New Delhi, Jan. 20: If you cannot win, at least defeat the opponent. That seems to be one of the key strategies adopted by the BJP to spread its tentacles in the Northeast ahead of Assembly elections in three states of the region. On Friday, the party announced the names of 20 and 47 candidates for Meghalaya and Tripura. Each state has a House strength of 60. With former Lok Sabha Speaker and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader P.A. Sangma launching a vigorous campaign for a comeback in Meghalaya, the BJP is trying to leverage on the bitterness between the NCP and the Congress to make inroads in the state. The bonhomie between Sharad Pawar's NCP and the Congress leadership in Maharashtra and Goa does not reflect the equation between them in New Delhi. Sangma's aggressive style of campaigning will further sour their ties. It is against this backdrop that the BJP is fielding candidates who may not win but can tip the scales in its favour. In tribal states where the numbers of voters is small, a few votes can tilt the balance. A BJP leader said the party was out to set free a cat among pigeons and add to the confusion. The general secretary (Northeast) of the BJP, Khiren Rijiju, asserted his party's "serious" approach. The MP from Arunachal Pradesh said over phone from New Delhi that the BJP would be ready for a coalition with any other party opposed to the Congress. Rijiju and Sangma are understood to have created a political ambience where the singular loser will be the Congress. The alliance, however, will not be there in Meghalaya much to the relief of the Congress. "No, we will not have an alliance with the BJP," Sangma told The Telegraph adding that the NCP was far ahead of the Congress in the state. His constituency Tura and areas dominated by the Garos — the tribe to which he belongs — are arrows in his quiver. The BJP candidates in the Garo Hills-based constituencies and the plains adjoining Assam could, however, be irritants for Sangma's party. Though the BJP has lost senior leaders like Tiameren Ao to the Congress, it is hopeful of good results in Nagaland where in 2003 it secured seven seats by making a foray into Congress territories. The result helped the BJP set foot in the region. Sources said this time, the BJP would field not less than 25 candidates in Nagaland. Upbeat over recent victories in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the BJP has now set sights on some seats in the Northeast, which has a sizeable Christian population.
