Shillong, Nov. 16: The Meghalaya unit of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) today flayed former chief minister D.D. Lapang and senior Congress legislator Friday Lyngdoh for making the recent visit of the leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani, to Shillong a “political issue”.

The Meghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA), of which the BJP is a partner, was criticised by the Congress in the just-concluded Assembly session for the nature of reception accorded to Advani during his visit to Shillong on September 29.

Lapang and Lyngdoh had said that the visit of chief minister Donkupar Roy and the chairman of the state planning board, P.A. Sangma, to a private hotel in Shillong to see Advani was “unwarranted”.

They said as Advani had failed to protect the Christians in the BJP-ruled states, the state machinery should not have involved itself in welcoming him because his visit was limited to a party function.

In a statement issued here today, the BJYM said that the state Congress leaders had failed to understand the importance of a leader of Advani’s stature.

Since Advani gets Z+ category security, the Union home ministry had instructed the state government to take necessary steps to ensure that his visit to Shillong was smooth, the BJYM said.