Eleven candidates of the Khun Hynñiewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) today took an oath before the statue of U Tirot Sing Syiem and U Kiang Nangbah to pledge that they will remain true to the party and not defect to rivals if elected in the February 21 autonomous district council elections.
Unlike in the state Assembly or Parliament, no anti-defection law applies in the ADCs and defections are a common occurrence.
Although not legally binding, the oath taken was highly symbolic, given that it was undertaken in public and in front of the statues of two heroes of the Khasi-Jaintia community.
The party also released its manifesto at the programme held at the State Central Library premises. The oath was administered by James MA Neng, the KHNAM general secretary.
Some of the points highlighted in the party manifesto include strengthening the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution, demanding the removal of Para 12(AA) from the Sixth Schedule, empowering the autonomy of the ADCs, collecting all records of the lands under the jurisdiction of the council, implementing the Trading by Non-Tribal Regulations in letter and spirit, ending illegal collections of tolls and fees by the councils and Himas and to reconsider the Scheduled Tribe order of 1950.
