TURA, Feb 10: Stevie Marak, the MDC from Boldamgre under South West Garo Hills (SWGH), has expressed his desire to move to the National People’s Party (NPP) following his defection from the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) recently.
Stevie, a one-time loyalist of the former chief minister, Mukul Sangma, recently shifted allegiance and became instrumental in the NPP-led coalition, retaining power in the recently concluded non-confidence motion in the Council. He had, along with Shyamnagar MDC Habibuz Zaman and another AITC MDC, voted for NPP’s Rakesh Sangma, leading to his win.
While Stevie has expressed his desire to move to the NPP, Zaman has remained tightlipped on any move. Stevie won the MDC seat from Boldamgre on a Congress ticket before moving to AITC. After a short stint with the AITC, Stevie finally decided to join the NPP.
With there being no anti-defection law in the GHADC, MDCs are free to easily cross over to other parties without the fear of being disqualified. “I was unhappy with the lack of support I received from the AITC in looking after the people of my constituency (which also happens to be that of Miani D Shira on an MLA level). For everything, it was only I that had to work with the local MLA hardly being present to meet the people of her constituency,” said Stevie on the reason for his defection.
He added that the NPP was on the rise in the state and was looking at a second term in the coming MLA elections.
“The Congress is in decline and the TMC is a new and unknown entity. Most of my supporters from Ampati have asked me to move from the TMC to a party that has the capacity to win the next elections and lead the state. It is their urging that has led me to quit the AITC and join the NPP,” the MDC added.
Being candid about the situation, Stevie said that sitting in the opposition bench was extremely frustrating as funds were never available to them to work on development of their constituencies.
“We only got a salary of Rs 23,500, most of which is pending. As opposition, we had nothing. We were not even given central funds to develop our constituency. This has been one of the reasons as to why most MDCs prefer to side with the ruling party. For me the development of my people and the constituency is paramount and thus I decided to join the NPP,” he added.
Stevie asserted that the state was going in the right direction under the leadership of Conrad Sangma and he hoped that this would continue in the days to come.
The Boldamgre MDC expects to be the NPP candidate for the upcoming MLA elections and could face his former leader in what is expected to be a very interesting fight.