SHILLONG: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said on Friday the NPP candidate, Martin M Danggo, “sacrificed his seat” for the betterment of the people of Ranikor.
Tynsong’s remarks come days after Donkupar Roy, whose UDP is an ally in the coalition government, levelled allegations against Danggo that NPP “tempted” him into the party with civil sub-division carrot.
The deputy chief minister, while addressing a gathering at Rangthong in Ranikor, recalled that in 2013, Danggo’s opponents called for his defeat for failing to get Ranikor a civil sub-division.
“But today those same opponents are calling for his defeat because of the flimsy reason that the by-election is causing an inconvenience to the people,” he added.
Countering Roy’s remark that Danggo was a defector, the senior NPP leader said under the Constitution, an MLA who resigns from his post to re-contest the seat is “not” a defector.
Tynsong, who was accompanied by Danggo on Friday, was campaigning for the August 23 by-poll.
Danggo, who resigned from the Congress and the Assembly in June after the government promised to upgrade Ranikor administrative unit to civil sub-division, blamed DD Lapang and Mukul Sangma for neglecting the South West Khasi Hills constituency.
He recounted the struggles that he had to go through to get the civil sub-division because both Lapang and Sangma “refused to consider the case for many years” despite requests.
Danggo said he and his party workers approached Chief Minister Conrad Sangma out of desperation. “Taking into consideration the genuine needs of the people of the constituency, the MDA government under the leadership of Conrad Sangma granted the request,” he added.
His resignation from the post of MLA was a mark of gratitude, the NPP candidate clarified saying, “NPP is the only party that can bring real development to the people of the region and the state as a whole”.
“It has always been the policy of the party under the leadership of Conrad Sangma to never indulge in mudslinging or negative campaigning during elections and the party stands for positivity and fairness and it fights elections based on principles and issues that concern the common people,” said Tynsong.
On the party’s development agenda, Tynsong said various projects are already on the anvil to further improve infrastructure and livelihoods of the people of the region which includes the SARDP road project and the re-opening of border haats.
