TURA, April 8: The National People’s Party (NPP) is making endeavours with all guns blazing to sweep the Garo Hills Autonomous District (GHADC) elections from South Garo Hills — consisting five crucial seats — with Chief Minister Conrad Sangma undertaking a whirlwind tour of the district, holding rallies in some of the remotest areas of Siju and Rongara, exhibiting the developmental agenda to woo the voters.
“We are seeking the goodwill of the people on the basis of our work undertaken in the last three years by our government. We have given top priority to the most-neglected region in the state, South Garo Hills, and have cleared projects worth crores of rupees to ensure there is a permanent change in the lives of people,” said chief minister during his South Garo Hills on Thursday.
Reiterating that good roads, hospitals and schools are the basis of progress, Conrad said his government has given top priority to these issues in the southern region that has been derived of proper infrastructure for years.
“The most-neglected route from Tura to Baghmara, from Panda to Kanai along the international border, and from Moheskola to Ranikor in South West Khasi Hills are projects well on the way to completion which, in turn, will boost people’s movement, raise the economy and provide jobs in the tourism sector,” he said.
The chief minister has been talking about developmental projects cleared by his government in almost every election campaign. At another rally in Baghmara town on the same day, he spoke about the provincialisation of the colleges in Williamnagar and Baghmara during PA Sangma’s tenure in the MPA government in 2008, and accused Congress governments, mostly headed by Mukul Sangma as chief minister, of abandoning the colleges.
“When we took over in 2018, we undertook an inspection of these colleges and were shocked to find them in total neglect with floors and windowpanes broken, furniture damaged and no maintenance. We cleared a project for a new college building for Baghmara college for which work has already been initiated. We have also sanctioned Rs 3.5 crore for the construction of an extension building for Baghmara Civil Hospital and sanction of PMGSY roads in Siju-Rongara worth over 100 crore,” said the chief minister.
“The seriousness of our government towards the development of the southern district can be best gauged from the 2019 event when we brought the entire top bureaucracy of the state to spend a day and night in Baghmara to give them a first-hand experience of the region and the issues plaguing it. This was done to bring governance closer to the people,” reminded Conrad in his address to the locals of Baghmara.
The NPP is fighting a multi-cornered contest in Baghmara where its candidate, Bartholomew D Shira, is facing a sitting MDC and former NPP leader, Sengnal N Sangma, who was denied the party ticket.
