SHILLONG, Dec 20: The BJP on Sunday said that the state government should immediately hold the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council polls that it has “delayed unnecessarily”.
The state government had cited the COVID-19 pandemic situation as the reason for deferring the elections and putting the council under administrative rule after the tenure of the current executive council had ended.
“We are putting pressure on the government for early elections. After the delay, the government has to declare elections within six months,” state BJP president Ernest Mawrie told The Shillong Times.
He insisted that the situation now was conducive for holding the GHADC polls. “Bihar conducted the general elections and Assam the Bodoland elections. We can too for the Garo Hills region by adhering to the standard operating procedures related to the pandemic,” he said.
Mawrie said the BJP has already submitted a letter to the Governor, requesting him to direct the state government for conducting the GHADC polls soon. “It is in the hands of the government, who is not the council’s administrative head,” he added.
The state BJP president said their party has prepared well for the GHADC polls and expected to do well in the next elections.
“We have done our groundwork and know we will perform better to win many seats,” he said, adding that the BJP was targeting 15 seats in the GHADC.
