By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Chairman of the Grand Council of Chiefs, a group of traditional heads of the State, John F Kharshiing on Friday formally joined the Congress at a function at the Congress Bhavan here.
Welcoming the former UDP member into the Congress family, Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma endorsed the need to preserve the traditional systems of self-governance prevailing in the State.
“The traditional institutions needs to be empowered through a Constitutional amendment since it is a time tested mechanism. We would see that the Congress party in the State would join hands in giving logistic support to the Grand Council of Chiefs in pressing the Centre to ensure their governance pattern is recognised by the law,” Dr Sangma said.
Dr Sangma also stated that Kharshiing’s move to join the Congress was not for any political gains.
“I can assure sure you that this is not an opportunistic move by Kharshiing unlike other political leaders in the past who had joined the party with selfish motives,” Dr Sangma said.
“It is an honour for the party to have him as a member. I am looking forward to closely working with Kharshiing to bring about socio-economic development in the State,” the Chief Minister added.
Kharshiing, in his inaugural address to the Congress members, stated that it was not an easy task for him to join the Congress after a long innings with the regional parties.
“We had a long discussion on the pros and cons before deciding to join the party. The major factor which convinced me to join the Congress is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s personal letter assuring that the demands of the Grand of Council of Chiefs would be looked into,” Kharshiing said.
Earlier, MPCC president DD Lapang welcomed Kharshiing to the party in the presence of senior party leaders including ministers, MLAs and MDCs.
