The United Democratic Party (UDP) top brass, including the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Speaker, Metbah Lyngdoh today descended into Garo Hills to boost support for more than 15 candidates it has fielded in the upcoming elections to the GHADC on April 12.
The first of the many meetings held today began in the village Rongjeng this morning with Lyngdoh pitching for support for their local candidate, Arman G Marak (Darugre constituency). He was joined on the dais by veteran UDP member, BG Momin, working president, L Ch Momin and party vice president, Allantry F Dkhar.
Darugre will see a four way battle with the Congress, NPP, UDP as well as an Independent candidate. The fight is expected to be a close one with none emerging favourites for now.
Arman has been buoyed by support by the former deputy chairman of the GHADC and current MDC from Darugre, Mettrinson G Momin, assuring his support to the UDP man. Mettrinson had earlier decided not to contest.
“The GHADC led by the chief minister Conrad Sangma is a sinking ship. The situation is such that the Council is currently under lock and key due to non-payment of salaries,” said the former deputy chairman.
Addressing the crowd that gathered at the Rongjeng playground, contestant Arman stated that the UDP has had an impeccable record of honesty as a party and this was something that inspired him.
“Our party has always been very clean unlike the others. We will bring the same cleanliness to the GHADC and clear the mess that is there,” said Arman.
He added that UDP was amongst the parties that did not field a non- Garo candidate keeping in mind the fact that separation of electoral roll was one of the prime agendas for the people of Garo Hills.
Party vice president, Allantry F Dkhar added that the UDP was the only option for the smooth functioning of the GHADC, taking the example of the KHADC, which is being led by the UDP.
“Salary payments are made every month due to the smooth functioning of the KHADC. Further those that claim that UDP is a Khasi-Jaiñtia based party are wrong. We once had 11 MLAs from our party from Garo Hills,” said Allantry.
Former MLA and party stalwart BG Momin added that the ADCs needed to be run by regional parties as they were best placed to understand the needs of the local populace.
“GHADC has been under lock and key over salary issues. I remember chief minister, Conrad Sangma earlier claiming that there were more than 1000 GHADC ghost employees. However when his party came to power in the GHADC, these employees still remained. What stopped him from removing all these ghost employees, if they really wanted to clear the situation,” asked Momin.
“When the NPP came to power in the GHADC only 6 months of salaries were due from the previous Congress government. Now this has risen to 32 months and employees are struggling. The situation could have been better worked out by the NPP but the mess just got worse under them,” he added.
Pitching for the party’s local candidate, Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh asked the people of the constituency to give the UDP a chance to bring change to GHADC.
“We are serious about reviving the GHADC and that is why we have fielded more than 15 candidates. Regional parties are best placed to bring about this change. You have voted for two national parties (Congress and NPP) and have seen the results. We assure you we can change the situation if given the mandate,” said Metbah.
He added that without the ADCs, the entire communities in the state will be in danger.
The UDP leadership will continue their charge over the coming days in an effort to garner support for its candidates over the coming week, with more leaders expected to join in canvassing for the right to run the GHADC.
