Shillong, Sept. 6: Union minister Alphons Kannanthanam was today appointed as the BJP's election in-charge for the 2018 Assembly polls in Meghalaya.

Kannanthanam, who took oath as Union minister of state for tourism on Sunday, was appointed by BJP chief Amit Shah.

The former IAS officer from Kerala, who became famous as Delhi's 'Demolition Man' when he, as commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority, cleared encroachment by removing around 15,000 illegal buildings, will oversee the party's preparation and management of the 2018 Assembly polls.

With 60 Assembly seats spread across the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo hills, Meghalaya is scheduled to elect its new legislature in February-March.

Yesterday, in a meeting with state BJP leaders, Shah finalised his visit to Meghalaya on September 28.

During the daylong visit, the BJP chief will interact with party workers, intellectuals and religious leaders.

At present, the BJP is aiming to set up candidates in all the Assembly constituencies.

To gauge the 'winnability factor' of the party and ticket aspirants, the BJP had conducted a survey in June, and a similar survey will be carried out in October and November.