Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma is seeking the mandate of the people from South Tura Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma is seeking the mandate of the people from South Tura to have uninterrupted governance under the NPP-led MPA government.The 40-year-old politician, who contested four elections and won two, spoke to The Shillong Times at his office chamber before leaving for Tura on Thursday for the last leg of the campaign as the by-poll is just a few days away.
ST: What is your agenda for the by-poll?
Conrad: I am focusing on development agenda. Tura being the headquarters of the Garo Hills region needs uplift. The desired development is yet to be achieved.
ST: What are the specific issues?
Conrad: The issues of water scarcity, road connectivity, streetlights, garbage disposal and beautification of Tura are still pending. There should be an overall policy to deal with these issues.
ST: You had contested many polls in the past. What is the difference this time?
Conrad: I had contested four elections and won two. In 2004, I lost the by-election from Selsella and won the Assembly polls in 2008.
Yet again, I lost the 2013 Assembly polls, but was elected to the Lok Sabha from Tura in 2016. There are a lot of expectations this time compared to the past obviously being in the government. We have to work harder.
ST: How are you preparing for the Tura by-poll?
Conrad: The coalition partners are supporting me and it does give an edge. However, there are many challenges in the election.
ST: In Ranikor, your coalition partners, UDP and PDF are fighting against NPP candidate MM Danggo. Does it send a wrong signal?
Conrad: There should have been understanding and it would have been ideal to have a common candidate. Political parties of different ideologies are fighting the by-election now. But this is the beauty of democracy. While running a coalition government, we need to adjust and respect the stand of others.
ST: What are the challenges ahead?
Conrad: Financial streamlining is a challenge for us as in the past, many promises were made. There were also instances of over sanctioning of schemes and non-utilisation of funds. We will have to think about better financial management.
Another area is delivery mechanism. The money sanctioned for schemes is not reaching the grassroots level. There are departmental challenges as far as monitoring of schemes is concerned.