Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday launched a fierce attack on the BJP , accusing it of "destabilising" the northeast in its "blind quest for power".

Still reeling from a dismal show in the recently-concluded assembly polls in Tripura , Nagaland and Meghalaya , senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala tweeted up a storm, and charged that the saffron party was forsaking the stability of the region so it can assume power "at any cost" and "by any means".

"Tell tale signs of BJP’s blind quest for power superseding the stability of region, propagation of democracy, nipping the separatist tendencies and ignoring core issues of region are already visible," Surjewala tweeted.

The Congress communications in-charge pointed out that the BJP was allying itself with regional parties whose ideology and demands it did not necessarily prescribe to or support, thereby undermining the mandate of the people of the state. The BJP-IPFT combine decimated the Left Front in Tripura by securing 43 seats in the 60-strong assembly.

" In Tripura, BJP aligned with IPFT, whose election plank is division of state and now demands a tribal CM. Time for Modi government and BJP to address both issues. Does it stand for demand for division of state of Tripura? Would it reject the demand for a tribal CM?" enquired Surjewala.

Turning to Nagaland, where Congress and BJP had till last month been part of the NPF-led government, Surjewala called out the saffron party for switching sides at the eleventh hour to join hands with the fledgling NDPP floated by former chief minister Neiphiu Rio.

" In Nagaland, BJP is in government with NPF yet fought election in alliance with its opposition party NDPP. NPF won 26 seats and NDPP won 18 seats. With both NPF and NDPP staking claim to form the government, is Nagaland headed for another round of instability like in last 5 years? And Naga Accord ?," said Surjewala.

He was referring to Nagaland Peace Framework signed by the Modi government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) in 2015 that brought an end to insurgency and made way for peace talks in the north-eastern state. Many regional parties had called for a boycott of the February 27 polls in the absence of clarity over the Naga peace accord. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has previously targeted PM Modi over the Naga accord and said it was "nowhere to be found" after nearly three years of being finalized.

Surjewala then touched upon the sore spot of Meghalaya, where the BJP, with only two seats in hand, once again outmaneuvered the ruling Congress by negotiating an alliance with other parties to form the government. Even after emerging as the single largest party with 21 seats, the grand old party failed to retain power in the state it had ruled for the last 15 years.

"In Meghalaya, as BJP assumes power with just 2 MLAs, every discordant party that fought BJP and each other, ideologically-politically-electorally, is sewn up to form the government at any cost - NPP+UDP+PDF+HSDP+BJP+Ind. Is this the answer to Meghalaya's aspirations and a stable government," he railed.

Meghalaya is the second state, after Manipur and Goa, where the Congress has not been able to forge a post-poll alliance with any of the regional parties despite emerging as the largest single party.

"BJP is following a dangerous game of destabilsation, subversion and usurpation of power in North East, unmindful of the stability, security, peace and progress. Hope Modiji had cared to learn from Rajivji who put ‘Nation First’ and brought peace to the region by Assam and Mizo accords," Surjewala said.

