By Our Reporter
SOHRA: After his wife kicked-off his election campaign recently, Nongshken legislator Donkupar Massar (Independent) followed suit by participating in a public rally at Sohra on Tuesday to garner support for his wife, sitting Nongshken MDC Grace Mary Kharpuri, who is contesting from Shella constituency.
Kharpuri is pitted against seasoned politicians including the likes of former Chief Minister Dr Donkupar Roy, Congress candidate Jropsing Nongkhlaw and Independent candidate Leston Wanswett, who joined the fray as an Independent after being denied the Congress ticket.
Addressing the rally, Massar urged the gathering not to be persuaded by those who were out to ‘buy votes’.
“You would be selling your future if you fall prey to such cheap strategy,” Massar said.
Urging people to vote in favour of his wife, Massar assured that his wife would try to serve the people of the constituency to the best of her capacity.
Kharpuri, in her address, said her top priority would be to uplift the living condition of the poor families of Shella constituency.
She also expressed her concern over lack of proper road communications in many of the villages in the constituency.
“Despite producing the best oranges in the country, Mawphu village still does not have a proper road. The villagers are forced to walk long distances to reach the nearest motorable road to bring their agriculture produces to the market,” the MDC said.
Maintaining that she was not making any personal attack on any of her opponents, Kharpuri said the earlier legislators had miserably in their duties to bring development in the constituency.
“Many of the villages under the constituency are still crying for development even after more than 40 years of Statehood,” she said.
Meanwhile, political observers have mentioned that Massar’s participation in public rallies is a marked change in the strategy he had adopted in the last Assembly election in 2008 where he did not hold a single public meeting.
The observers have stated that the Nongshken legislator had been a firm believer in the policy of ‘personal interactions with supporters’, but has changed his approach this time after realizing the necessity of public meetings to hold on to his supporters.
The husband-wife duo is also lending a helping hand in each other’s election campaign since both are contesting as Independent candidates, the observers said.