TURA: Members of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) have moved the state government calling for postponement of the upcoming elections to the 30-member autonomous body primarily due to the ongoing pandemic.
A delegation of MDCs from the ruling NPP-led Garo Hills Progressive Alliance called on Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma at his residence in Tura on Wednesday to submit a memorandum asking for the postponement and citing the ongoing pandemic.
Led by Council Chief Executive Member, Dipul R Marak and Chairman Denang T Sangma, the memorandum was jointly signed by 15 MDCs from the ruling dispensation including members from the Garo National Council and the BJP.
The memo stated that the entire country is passing through very testing times due to COVID-19 and Meghalaya was no exception.
“Gatherings and public rallies cannot be held under such circumstances and it will be best if the polls are postponed,” suggested GHADC Chairman Denang T Sangma while speaking to The Shillong Times.
The Council memorandum also brought into focus the troubling financial situation wherein GHADC authorities have been unable to pay salaries of its employees for the last 22 months.
“Election expenses are to be borne from the coffers of the Council itself and currently it is not in a position to arrange for funds to finance the elections,” the Council chairman said.
Another point brought forward was the upcoming amendment to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution in Parliament.
“Under the amendment of the Sixth Schedule, the number of council seats is to be increased to 40 and the amendment has to be taken up by Parliament. But the pandemic has stalled the functioning of Parliament and the Election Commission has even postponed several elections including those for the panchayat raj,” Sangma said.
The GHADC was supposed to hold its elections from September and complete the poll process by October itself.
This will be the second time in recent history that the Council polls will be delayed.
The GHADC elections in September, 2015, which was held by the previous Congress-led government in the state, took place after a delay of over a year and a half. The original polls were to take place in 2014. In that delay, the government had cited the ongoing talks over the text agreement with the now-disbanded ANVC militant outfit.
