SHILLONG: Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday said the
Congress party is taking the election in Meghalaya very seriously as the polls will witness a fight between two ideologies and the Congress will be fighting to save the basic principles of democracy and secularism.
"We are taking the Meghalaya election very seriously. It is not an ordinary election because polls this year will witness a fight between two ideologies. Today, the country is passing through a very crucial period, as there is the spreading of Hindutva political thought which is against the basic ideas of Constitution, democracy and secularism. This will be a fight to ensure the survival of democracy and secularism," Gogoi told reporters here on Saturday.
Alleging that the saffron party wants to impose its cultural politics of homogeneity, Gogoi added, "Meghalaya is a state full of diversities. Today, the BJP's slogan is 'one nation, one culture' and even one tax. But I want to ask them if India can be ever a country of one culture and religion. India is a nation of many religions. But the
BJP wants to impose their culture by dictating what food to eat, which clothes to wear and whom to marry. The difference between Congress and BJP is that while the saffron party wants only the lotus, we want all the flowers to bloom."