SHILLONG: For a tranquil place like Mawkynrew, which is hemmed in on all sides by green hills, the ongoing election fervor seems too incongruous.
Nonetheless, the season’s excitement has not escaped the constituency in East Khasi Hills that is heading for a multi-cornered fight with six candidates in the fray.
A visit to sleepy Mawlat, a hamlet in Mawkynrew, reveals that it is among the many picturesque villages with deep gorges and quiet canyons.
A villager from the area, while speaking to reporters, said the village is beautiful and unique due to its geographical location but, however, the village deserves better connectivity.
The villager said they need better and bigger roads, besides a better public transportation system.
Another villager said they also need quality healthcare as the existing health facility is quite far.
On the other hand, sitting MLA from the area and NPP leader Remington Pyngrope told in a rally in the area that his intention is to connect all the villages with proper roads in the next five years if he is voted to power.
Earlier, he also blamed the state government for not having enough medical facilities in the area saying health centres are the need of the hour in the constituency. Recalling his experience as a legislator for the last two terms, Pyngrope said he was in government only for eight months while he was in the Opposition for as long as nine years.
“Had I contested the coming polls on a UDP ticket I would have won again but there is no point for me to win and sit in the opposition for the next five years,” he said.
Stating that UDP will win only three seats whereas its ally, HSPDP, would secure two seats in the assembly elections, he added that the People’s Democratic Front is a relatively newly party and even its leader, PN Syiem, will have a tough time to win the polls.
He maintained that out of the 60 MLAs in the legislative assembly only Prestone Tynsong can go against Chief Minister Mukul Sangma even as he added that development has dwindled in the state, especially in rural areas, in the past eight years
Meanwhile, former Cabinet minister Tynsong, in his speech, said, “If the NPP forms the next government he will become the new chief minister of the state and Pyngrope will become a Cabinet minister in the government.”
