TURA: Following the postponement of elections for the positions of president and general secretary of the Garo Students’ Union under controversial circumstances in Tura on Saturday last, all the zonal leaders of the union met at Asananggre to set up an interim body.
The meeting of the various zones of the GSU also denounced the declaration forwarded by the chief election commissioner, lecturer Sanggra A Sangma, entrusting the caretaking authority of the body to an already dissolved central executive committee (CEC) of the GSU headed by outgoing president Tengsak G Momin.
The election to the two top posts of the student union had to be postponed after a majority of the contesting candidates and the zonal leaders questioned the failure of the chief election commissioner to produce the necessary documents, particularly the student voters list, to ensure a free and fair poll.
A general meeting held at Asananggre and attended by a majority of student union members and zonal leaders decided to entrust all functioning and decision making authority to the interim body of the zonal leaders which would be headed by Khasi Hills zone general secretary Zikku Balgra N Marak as interim president and eastern zone general secretary Rockyfiller M Sangma as interim general secretary.
The two leaders have been entrusted by the zonal leaders to take all necessary action on behalf of the GSU, CEC, until elections for the top posts are held.
A fresh election committee is also being mooted to hold elections for the posts of president and general secretary.
The current election committee under the guidance of the chief election commissioner has been rejected by the various zones of the GSU following the events of Saturday when it failed to provide the list of eligible student voters as per the last recorded voters list prepared in 2009.