DALU, Feb 10: For Akki Sangma, the people of Dalu have high hopes from the BJP to develop the constituency and this is what will hold him in good stead in the upcoming elections.
One of the most crucial seats for the party, Dalu is expected to be a closely-fought contest with 9 candidates from various parties contesting to win the mandate of just 22,007 voters, as per the latest electoral roll.
Akki’s campaign is being supported by another ticket aspirant, Moromi K Marak, who had earlier yesterday decided to stay and work with the party in an effort to develop the constituency.
“The current MLA, Brenning Sangma, has not taken initiative to develop Dalu and that is why Dalu is lagging behind. Being in the ruling dispensation, he should have been active and pushed for development instead of sitting back idly. We can’t blame the government for the MLA’s lack of initiative. His people and their development should have been his only concern,” felt Akki during an interview this morning.
Akki informed that the lack of development was apparent in all aspects of public life in Dalu and this has led to a lot of frustration.
“There is no development in the medical sector, roads and infrastructure as well as education. Nothing really has progressed for the people of Dalu only due to the neglect shown by the MLA and the NPP-led government. This has to be changed. Can you imagine that there are no RCC bridges in the entire constituency of Dalu, so where is the progress?,” he asked.
He asserted that the health infrastructure was so pathetic that for even petty problems, he had been helping thousands from the area to get treatment outside, as these could not be treated in Dalu.
Akki also noted that JJM was an absolute failure in his constituency.
“People do not have access to drinking water and those that have JJM, have not seen a drop of drinkable water. While the NPP-led government has been gloating over an award by the Centre over implementation, the ground reality is completely different,” he rued.
The BJP leader also added that in about 4-5 villages in his campaign, he noticed villages and houses without electricity that were provided with smart meters without a connection. “How come some of them are getting electric bills without a connection? Something very fishy is going on,” he said.
On his own chances, Akki said he was confident of a mandate as the people realised that for development, BJP was the only option.
“They have expectations of the party and that is something we want to live up to if given the people’s mandate,” he stated.
