SHILLONG: Former MLA of West Shillong, Paul Lyngdoh has announced his candidature from Jaiaw seat for the 2019 Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) polls.
Addressing a press conference here at his residence on Friday, he pointed out manifold issues could be discussed in the District Council while asserting there is a wide gap between talks and actions.
Asserting there have been times of confrontation between the District Council and state government, he said a common link between the District Council and the state government should be explored.
“The Council cannot survive without support of the state government and the state government will cease to have links with grassroot politics if the District Council is not respected,” he said.
Lyngdoh pointed to the failure of the District Council to deliver a good performance with regard to implementation of its laws.
“The orders and Bills passed by the District Council are only on paper and the implementation is very weak. For effective execution of laws of the District Council, there is a need to tone up and improve the quality of officers, tone up the quality of administration,” he said.
As for his announcement of candidature, he was reluctant to contest the KHADC elections initially but after the last meeting of the constituency committee, it was decided to nominate himself as candidate.
There were 10 aspirants but after some withdrew, it all came down to three- Martamlin Pyrbot, Paul Lyngdoh and Reginald Thabah.
Lyngdoh said preparations for the 2019 Council elections were on for over one year in which various units of the constituency were consulted.
It may be mentioned that Lyngdoh will contest against Auguster Jyrwa, a former Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) general secretary who is contesting on a Congress ticket, Thomas Passah, another popular face from Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM).