The State government’s decision to extend the term of the present House of the two Autonomous District Councils in Khasi Hills and Jaiñtia Hills will not break the energy of the Voice of the People Party (VPP), spokesperson Batskhem Myrboh said.
Myrboh sees the extension of the terms of the KHADC and JHADC as a way to break the momentum of the VPP. “Now they think that delaying the elections will lessen the love that people have for the VPP party. They don’t know that the people are waiting eagerly to again punish the parties in power,” he told Highland Post.
He said it was evident from the recent MP election that the people wanted to punish the parties in power.
Myrboh said the delimitation was an excuse. “All this while, don’t the MDCs know that there are a disproportionate number of people in different constituencies? They are also blaming people that they have received complaints and petitions from the people for the delimitation,” he said.
“Their justification is lame, does not hold any ground, and it’s like undermining the capacity of the people to think,” he said, adding that those in power should respect the ability of the people to reason and think.
“The extension of the house is suppressing the rights of the people to choose their representatives in time which is anti-democratic and anti-people,” Myrboh said.
The extension of the term of the two District Councils will be effective from September 5, 2024 to March 5, 2025.
It may be mentioned that the State government had first extended the term of KHADC and JHADC by six months from March 5, 2024 in order to enable the councils to carry out delimitation of their constituencies.
The delimitation exercise has been completed and the two District Councils have also passed their respective delimitation bills regarding adjustments of villages and voters in their respective constituencies.
