TURA: The political battlefield for the upcoming 2018 elections saw a new entrant with a senior government bureaucrat resigning from her post to join the poll fray in Garo Hills.
Ferlin C.A Sangma, Joint Secretary in the Government of Meghalaya who was in charge of Printing and Stationary, has taken voluntary retirement to contest the polls.
She will take on Congress heavyweight and current minister in Mukul Sangma’s cabinet, Clement Marak, from Selsella constituency in West Garo Hills as an NPP candidate.
Ferlin’s candidature was announced by NPP national president and Tura MP Conrad K. Sangma at a large gathering of party supporters in Selsella on Friday.
The resignation by the senior officer comes close on the heels of another similar case in which the director of Weaving and Sericulture, Bakul Ch Hajong, stepped down from his government post to join BJP. He is contesting against chief minister Mukul Sangma from Ampati.
Ferlin, also known as ‘Lelet’, served in the State Government for 33 years in various capacities. She joined the Meghalaya Civil Service as an Extra Assistant Commissioner in Tura Deputy Commissioner’s Office in 1994. She was the block development officer (BDO) of Selsella from 1996 to 2000. She took charge as the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Ampati civil sub-division and later became the Project Director of DRDA from 2008-2010.
Her known associates say political interference from the Congress government compelled her to join politics after her promotion was allegedly held up. She reportedly took the government to court and won the case.
‘Ready to face the challenge’
A political greenhorn, Ferlin said she is prepared for the political contest with senior Congress MLA clement Marak in Selsella.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, she said, “I have worked tirelessly for the state in my capacity as a government employee. The time has come to give my service in a different field.”
Acknowledging that the political road ahead is a difficult one, she said contesting against a senior Congress leader is a welcoming challenge.
“We should not under-estimate or overestimate our opponents,” she cautioned while simultaneously accusing the sitting MLA of long absence from his constituency and his voters.
On the decision to join NPP she said it was because of the ‘overwhelming’ support given by the people of Garo Hills to Conrad Sangma in the last by-elections to the Tura Lok Sabha seat and the embrace for the party in other states such as Manipur.
“NPP is a national party with a regional outlook. Its success can be gauged from the recent Manipur elections where it won four seats and all its elected members were awarded ministerial positions,” said Ferlin.