Conrad takes Cong head on, harps on dad’s legacy

TURA: NPP national president Conrad K Sangma visited six different constituencies in the Garo Hills on Wednesday to campaign for party candidates ahead of the February 27 polls. 
He started the second day of his chopper tour at 10 am and covered Dobu under Songsak constituency, Aruak under Kharkutta, Debaraggre under Tikrikilla, Phulbari and Bhaitbari under Rajabala constituency and Kasiabari under Selsella constituency. 
Addressing rallies, he said that the forthcoming election was important for NPP as in the absence of the late Purno Agitok Sangma the party is committed to fulfilling his dreams.
Dwelling on the various agendas of the party, he said: “The current government under Mukul Sangma has to end and we have to march ahead with a positive vision to better the lives of our people”, adding that the focus of the NPP would be to accord importance to infrastructure, education, tourism, job creation, health, education and economic empowerment of women. 
“We are blessed to have a wealth of agricultural products but we have not been able to add value to those products. Food processing and packaging is going to be one sector we would like to focus on,” he said at a rally in Kharkutta while drumming up support for NPP candidate Rupert Momin. 
At Phulbari, he spoke about reviving the Rongai Valley irrigation project as well as improving road connectivity in the plains belt areas of Garo Hills. He also promised to upgrade education infrastructure by setting up colleges in the plains belt areas to create more opportunities in higher education.  
At several rallies in the plains belt areas of West Garo Hills, he said, “Road would remain the number one priority for NPP”. Also, he accused the Congress of communalising the election to safeguard narrow political interests.
“Congress says they are secular. If they are secular why are they talking about religion? Mukul Sangma you are scared. You should tell the people what you want to do and produce a report card of your government rather than politicising the election,” he asserted.
Maintaining that the NPP is a secular party that accords equal importance to all religions, the party chief said, “Yes, we have an alliance with the BJP at the Centre and in Manipur, but we are fighting the election alone in Meghalaya. Our ideologies are different and we will never compromise. Our partnership with the BJP is only to further the development of Meghalaya and the North-East.”