SHILLONG, Jan 28: The state government has decided to hold the elections to Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) on April 9.
A decision on this was taken by the state Cabinet on Thursday.
The GHADC’s five-year term expired on October 18 last year but the state government decided to defer the polls in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and put the House under the Administrator’s Rule.
Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong told reporters that polling would be held on April 9 from 7 am to 4 pm. The counting of votes will take place on April 14.
The draft electoral rolls will be published on February 4 while February 18 will be the last date for filing of claims and objections.
According to Tynsong, the notification for calling the constituencies to elect the new members of the Council will be issued on March 8. The model code of conduct will come into force from that day.
The candidates will have to file their nomination papers between March 8 and March 15. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on March 15 while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is March 19.
On financial requirement for holding the polls to the cash-strapped GHADC, Tynsong said the Cabinet approved a proposal for meeting all expenditures in the form of advance payment against the Council’s royalty/share which will be adjusted in due course.
The state government has asked the Deputy Commissioners to revisit expenditure as it was slightly on the higher side. An estimated Rs 15 crore is required for holding the elections.
Given upcoming board exams, the District Council Affairs department had taken the views and suggestions of the Education department before fixing the date of elections.
Tynsong is confident the National People’s Party (NPP) will secure the highest number of seats. “We need to cross the magic number and we are confident about it,” he asserted.
He said the allegations of embezzlement of funds in the GHADC will have no impact on the NPP’s poll prospects. He said the government does not pay any heed to baseless allegations.
“Even during the terms of previous governments, allegations were made. We have asked the Director of Local Audit Funds (DLAF) to go deep into the matter and conduct auditing for the last 10 years. We are serious about it,” Tynsong said.
The charges of large-scale corruption were first levelled by the BJP which also demanded a probe by the CBI.
However, the state government rejected it and asked the DLAF to conduct a special auditing in the GHADC as well as the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council.