TURA: The NPP chief and Tura Lok Sabha MP, Conrad K Sangma, exuded confidence that his party will be winning handsomely in the upcoming 2018 state assembly elections while making an announcement before a packed audience at Tura on Monday that the NPP would have its very own chief minister at the helm of affairs in Meghalaya after the polls.
Speaking at a special party conference at the district auditorium which was attended by four NPP ministers from the Biren Singh-led government in Manipur, the Tura MP recalled with fondness the hard and dedicated work of his late father and party founder P A Sangma who nurtured Manipur and helped the NPP to register a stunning win in four constituencies paving the way for the party’s bag the post of deputy chief minister position in the current BJP-led alliance government in Manipur.
“We are expecting a maximum number of seats for the party from the Khasi and Jaintia region and we are optimistic the NPP wave would be similar in the Garo Hills too. Our party has already announced that the chief minister will come from the region which elects the highest number of legislators,” said Conrad Sangma.
“Going by the dramatic changes taking place on the ground in the Garo Hills, I can confidently say that we are going to sweep the entire plains belt region in Garo Hills,” said the Tura MP referring to the contest in the assembly seats of Selsella, Rajabala, Phulbari, Tikrikilla and Mahendraganj, which is currently held by Dikkanchi D Shira, wife of Chief Minister Mukul Sangma.
Congratulating the four NPP ministers in the Manipur government, Conrad pointed out that the state was a very important chapter for them because the seed for the growth of the party was sown in the states of Manipur, Nagaland, Assam and Meghalaya by Late P A Sangma and its first results were visible in the Manipur elections when four party candidates emerged victorious and were made ministers.
He told the gathering that the dream of Late P A Sangma was to see the rise of the north east and for that it needed a party that would be able to exert pressure on New Delhi to get its adequate share of development.
“In Delhi only numbers count. Unless you have the required number of MPs, Delhi will seldom listen to your grievances. That is why NPP was formed to fulfill the aspirations of the people of the north east and we are on the right track to be heard,” said the Tura MP.
The NPP’s Deputy Chief Minister of Manipur and former Director General of Police (DGP) Y Joykumar Singh said it was important for every human being to have dignity and self- respect.
“People in Meghalaya should support and strengthen a party that ensures dignity and self-respect. I see only the NPP that stands for the cause of the people of the region,” said Joykumar Singh who is also the finance minister of Manipur.
Two other Manipur ministers of the NPP, Health Minister L Jayanta Kumar Singh and Sports Minister Letpao Haokip also addressed the NPP supporters during the conference in Tura. While Jayanta Kumar Singh called upon the people of the north east to unite under NPP to take up developmental issues with the centre, Haokip said “only a party like NPP which is people-oriented can lead the way for the region to progress.”
Interestingly, the bitter rivalry between the NPP and its ally in Manipur-the BJP, over the upcoming elections in Meghalaya has been palpable.
The National Youth President of the NPP, Ms Ratika Yumnam, did not fail to mention the burning issue of attempts at curtailing food habits of the people- an indirect dig at the BJP’s now discarded ‘Beef Ban’ which had raised a hue and cry among minorities.
“Certain political parties have been trying to decide on what we should eat or choose to eat. It is our cultural right to decide what we wish to consume and no political party has any right to decide on our food habits,” said Ms Yumnam.
NPP selects Late Manirul Islam Sarkar’s younger brother to contest from Phulbari:
Conrad K Sangma announced in the NPP conference at Tura that sitting Shyamnagar MDC in the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), S G Esmatur Mominin, also known as Rahibul, would be the party candidate for Phulbari constituency in next year’s state elections. He is the younger brother of Late Manirul Islam Sarkar who died of a cardiac arrest last week. Sarkar was the NPP candidate and a frontrunner in Phulbari before his untimely demise.
The party candidates for some of the seats in the Garo Hills were also introduced to the public and a huge applause came from the crowds for sitting NPP MLA of Songsak Nihim D Shira as his name was announced as the man who will be fighting against the Congress chief minister Mukul Sangma.