SHILLONG: After losing the last Assembly election to Hamlet Dohling, Ronnie V Lyngdoh is now gearing up for next year’s district council election and has set his agenda — to safeguard the constitutional rights of the indigenous community in the state.
The former urban affairs minister told The Shillong Times here on Monday that the proposed amendment to the Sixth Schedule will adversely affect the indigenous community.
“There are talks about bringing in a panchayati raj like institution in the state, which will defeat the whole purpose of the Sixth Schedule. We will not allow the dilution and in no way we will accept a panchayati raj like institution,” said Lyngdoh. Earlier too, the Congress leader, who will contest the council polls from Mylliem, had voiced his concern about a panchayat-like institution. However, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong had refuted the claims saying there was no move to introduce a panchayat-like system.
Lyngdoh said on Monday the Congress, if voted to power in the district council, “will ensure that the spirit of the Sixth Schedule remains intact”.
The former minister claimed that he lost the February election because the constituents were misled and misinformed but “I will soon expose the lies”.
“… the only issue against me was MUDA and now the same person (Dohling) is handling the Urban Affairs Department, so we will expose his lies and misinformation,” said Lyngdoh, who has already started campaigning and sound confident to win in 2019.
The leader said people were not informed about district councils and hence it was not taken seriously. “But district councils are constitutionally mandated and it’s equivalent in structure to Parliament and Assembly within its own sphere. Now we are highlighting the important laws in the district councils,” he added.
