SHILLONG, April 17: Putting the poll disappointment behind, the ruling NPP on Saturday cobbled a coalition, sans BJP, and staked claim to form the new executive committee in the GHADC with razor thin majority of 15 MDCs in a house of 29.
Without losing any time, NPP supremo Conrad Sangma, accompanied by 15 MDCs, called on the Governor to formally request him to approve the move. Besides 11 members of NPP, lone GNC member and three Independents are with this coalition.
“The Governor has called for the election of the Chairman on Monday at 11 pm and we are confident that the GHDC alliance will win the election of the chairmanship,” Sangma disclosed.
The coalition has unanimously elected Bendedict Marak who is also the MLA and the MDC of Raksamgre, as the CEM candidate while MDC from Chokpot area Nikman Marak will be the deputy CEM and Rakesh Sangma will be the Chairman. The alliance has adopted an eight-point Common minimum programme based on the inputs of all constituents.
Pointing out that even after 60 years of having a district council it still does not have service rules, the Chief Minister and NPP Chief said, “Therefore the recruitment process, the process of promotion all these aspects are not clear. So, service rules are very important similarly there are number of financial rules and policies that need to be made”.
He asserted that that all these will be done in a time bound manner and GHDC will ensure that they will bring in very important and strict reforms in the council.
Enquired whether the opposition against the non-tribal candidates participating the GHADC will also be looked at, the Chief Minister said, “These are issues that need to be discussed and we have always maintained that we need to carry the people along. We need to consult as it requires broad consultations and it is something we will definitely discuss and see how we can come to a unanimous decision and understanding”.
Stating that the current GHADC election result reflects the mood of the people, the chief minister said, “We respect that mandate, therefore whether it is from the Congress or NPP or any political party we saw that the people really wanted a change and yes we worked very hard and expected more seats but there are many factors that were there but it is clear signal from the people of Garo Hills that they need strong reforms in the district councils in Garo Hills and we are here now to work towards that”.
“We have good young team and I am sure with the support of these members we will be able to make very good reforms in the district council,” he added.