Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma blamed a "particular religion" for the loss that the National Democratic Alliance suffered in three northeastern states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur in the Lok Sabha polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said that the defeat in these states was not political but because a particular religion openly went against the NDA.
In the recently conculded Lok Sabha polls, BJP ally National People's Party (NPP) lost both seats in Meghalaya to the Congress and the Voice of the People Party. In Nagaland, another NDA ally, Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) lost the lone seat to Congress which also bagged the two seats in Manipur.
Speaking to reporters at BJP's state office, Sarma said, "A particular religion openly went against our government in those states (Meghalaya, Manipur, and Nagaland), and that religion has tremendous followers in those states." Notably, the three states have a dominant Christian majority population.
"It is not a political defeat because nobody can fight with a religion. So if tomorrow, all the Shankaracharyas sit and say Himanta must lose, how can I fight with all the Shankaracharyas," said the Assam CM.
Sarma went on to say "they usually do not interfere in politics but this time, for whatever reason, they interfered in politics including Assam."
He also said that the Lok Sabha elections 2024 shows the evidence that Congress has become the preferred party of the minorities in the state. "I think earlier Muslim people were the prime voters for Ajmal (Badruddin Ajmal) and Congress in Assam. This time, the Congress was the monopoly of the Muslim vote in Assam," he said.