By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills Sanjay Goyal has said that the most of the complaints lodged against candidates with regards to violation of election code of conduct are ‘baseless’ except one.

“Most of the complaints are baseless except the one made against NCP candidate and Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly Sanbor Shullai,” Goyal, whos is Returning officer for the East Khasi Hills district, said here on Tuesday

It may be mentioned that the State Election Department has received complaints of violation of code of conduct against sitting Mawprem legislator Manas Chaudhuri, sitting Laitumkhrah legislator Ampareen Lyngdoh, Congress candidate for West Shillong Mahendro Rapsang, Langrin MLA Martin M Danggo.

He also informed that the complaint against Shullai was inquired into and the report has been forwarded to the Election Commission of India.

Reacting to a query, Goyal said that flying squads had been setup in every constituency and added that surveillance team had been deployed in different sectors to keep a watch on the activities of the candidates.

On the reported case of violence in Pynthorumkhrah, the official said a case has been registered and police is looking into the matter.

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: Jailed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) chief Champion Sangma on Tuesday suffered a major setback when the East Garo Hills district administration booked him under Meghalaya Prevention of Detention Act (MPDA).

Under MPDA, a person is detained for a maximum of three years and the accused can get bail only after an Advisory Board chaired by a retired Judge meets and decides on the matter.

The MPDA detention came at a time when the court of the chief judicial magistrate here is set to hear on Wednesday a bail application of the GNLA leader in connection with his arrest in Pynursla, East Khasi Hills.

Earlier, Champion got bail in other criminal cases. However, detention under MPDA will make it difficult for him to get bail.

An official source said on Tuesday that the GNLA chief was booked under MPDA as per various provisions of law which include waging war against the country and also for heading a banned organization.

The source added that the detention under MPDA was also due to the various criminal offences pending in the East Garo Hills district against the GNLA leader.

However, the detention under MPDA does not bar Champion from contesting upcoming Assembly election.

Visually impaired voters a neglected lot

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: Despite the availability of Braille compatible EVMs in all polling stations of the State, the visually impaired voters are yet to get any training on using the Braille method to cast their votes.

An election official said on Tuesday that all the 3,700 EVMs to be used for the February 23 polls will be Braille compatible to facilitate the blind voters to cast their votes.

However, the ground reality is that no training is being imparted to the blind voters in this regard.

One such ‘affected voter’ is the Headmistress of Jyoti Sroat School for the visually impaired, Bertha Dkhar. She had to return without having the feel of the machine as there was no one to demonstrate the EVM at the office of the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner, who is also the district electoral officer.

Citing her experience in the past, Dkhar said that the booth level officers would insist on having an assistant to enter the booth along with her to cast vote on her behalf to prevent making any mistake.

“I agreed to their (booth level officers) suggestion as it is not easy to cast your votes when you cannot see what is lying in front of you and since there was a long queue, I didn’t want to waste much time in feeling the machine”, she said.

The election department is yet to release the statistics related to the differently abled voters including those who are visually impaired.

A source from the Bethany Society, an NGO dealing with the issues related to the differently abled said that as per the 2001 census, the number of visually impaired persons is second highest in the State among other differently abled persons. East Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills have the maximum number of visually impaired people.

“According to the census, it was stated that there are around 30,000 differently abled persons in the State out of which around 5000-6000 are visually impaired citizens and 10 percent of them are children”, he said.

However, the source mentioned that based on ground reality, the census presented is wrong as the number of the differently abled persons in the State is higher than the number highlighted in the census.

An official with the election department said that the number of visually impaired voters is yet to be ascertained.

The Chief Electoral Officer, P Naik said that since all the polling stations will have the provision for ramps, other differently abled voters will not have any difficulty in registering their votes.

Ampareen, father-daughter duo to file papers on Day-1

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: Filing of nominations for the election to the 60-member Meghalaya Assembly will begin on Wednesday with the Election Department issuing the poll notification.

Congress nominee for East Shillong Ampareen Lyngdoh and father-daughter duo — Pynshai Manik Syiem (Mawphlang, Independent) and Teilinia Thangkhiew (Mylliem, Independent) — will file their papers on the first day. The last date for filing nomination is February 6.

Majority of the political parties have already declared their candidates.

While Congress is the only party to field candidates in all the 60 constituencies, the newly formed National People’s Party is all set to put up 35 candidates.

NCP has also cleared the names of 16 candidates including the party president and deputy speaker Sanbor Shullai.

The BJP has announced 13 names, while the biggest regional party, UDP is planning to field as many as 59 candidates.Smaller parties like the Lok Janshakti Party and Samajwadi Party announced 5 and 13 candidates.

Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills Sanjay Goyal on Tuesday said that his office is all prepared to set the poll process rolling.

The symbols for the Independents and unrecognized political parties would be allotted on February 9.

Reacting to a query, Goyal said that three vehicles of a candidate would be allowed to come within a 100-metre radius of the DC’s office and moreover, five people including the candidate would be allowed to come to the chamber of the Returning Officer to file nomination papers as per the directives of the Election Commission of India.

He also informed that a few DSP-level officers would be deployed to assist the Deputy Commissioner to ensure that there is no law and order problem when candidates and his or her supporters would come to the office to file papers.

It may be mentioned here that scrutiny of the nomination papers would be done on February 7 and the counting of votes will take place on February 28.

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: Nearly 2.7 lakh new voters have been enrolled in the electoral rolls for the ensuing Assembly election.

“Total number of voters this time has touched almost 15 lakh. The figure in 2003 was 12.5 lakh while there was a marginal drop in 2008 with a figure of 12.3 lakh enrolled voters,” Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Prashant Naik said here on Wednesday.

According to Naik, Meghalaya has also achieved a unique distinction of becoming the first State in the country for preparing the electoral rolls on its own without outsourcing it.

Further, the CEO informed that the enrolment process is still underway and that anyone who wishes to get his/her name enrolled need only to approach the designated offices to acquire the same.

Assam-Meghalaya joint meeting: Meanwhile, Naik informed that a joint meeting of the Government officials of Meghalaya and Assam will be held in Shillong on February 8 in view of the Assembly elections due on February 23.

The meeting will dwell on the joint efforts for smooth conduct of the Assembly elections.

It is learnt that the meeting will also discuss law and order scenario along the inter-state borders to ensure the peaceful conduct of elections.

“Besides other issues, Langpih would also find place in the discussions,” Naik added.

The meeting will be attended by the Chief Electoral Officers of both states besides the principal secretary of Home department and senior police officials.

Earlier in this month, Meghalaya DGP Kulbir Krishan and Chief Secretary WMS Pariat met their counterparts in Dispur to discuss the need to ensure free and fair polls in the disputed border areas and Assam has asserted of declaring ‘dry days’ for three consecutive days till February 23 in the bordering districts.

The Assam Government has also assured of taking other preventive measures to ensure free and fair polls in the bordering areas of Meghalaya.

From Our Correspondent

 TURA: With the date of filing nominations for the upcoming Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Elections nearing, the Central Election Committee of the United Democratic Party (UDP) has declared names of three more candidates in West Garo Hills.

For Tikrikilla constituency, UDP decided to field five-time MLA and former Speaker of the State Assembly Monindro Rabha.

For Rangsakhona, the party has named former general secretary of the All India Garo Union, Sengban R Sangma and for Phulbari constituency the party has decided put up Susanna D Sangma.

With the declaration of three more candidates, the number of UDP candidates in Garo Hills has gone up to fifteen.

IMPHAL: Manipur police rescued seven children of Meghalaya from among twelve minors from the clutches of human traffickers in Thoubal district of Manipur. The five boys and two girls (aged between 6 to 13) were handed over to their families by the State Social Welfare Department on Tuesday.

The repatriation followed soon after WK Blah, chairperson, Child Welfare Committee, Meghalaya and the Child Welfare Committee, Thoubal signed an agreement.

The children were rescued by Thoubal police at a police check-post from a private vehicle in which they were travelling. The vehicle was heading for Moreh in the Chandel district of Manipur.

The repatriation function was attended by the state Social Welfare department’s Deputy Director Surrender A Sishak, Probation Officer K Saroja Devi, Child Welfare Officer N Binobala and representatives of Child Welfare Committee, Meghalaya, Child Welfare Committee, Thoubal and parents of the children. (NNN)

By Our Reporter

 SHILLONG: Sitting legislator of Mawkyrwat constituency and Deputy Chief Minister Rowell Lyngdoh on Tuesday dismissed the allegations leveled against him by the KSU (Mawkyrwat circle) in relation to misappropriation of funds from the MLA Scheme.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, Lyngdoh clarified that the grants extended to the women organizations or to individuals for water tanks or to the Mawkyrwat Sub Division Sport Association (MSDSA) playground for fencing were drawn by respective beneficiaries from the Block Development Officer (BDO).

Denying any involvement in misuse of funds, Lyngdoh said, “I have never drawn nor have been involved in the withdrawal of funds for implementing any of these projects.”

“As per guidelines I have to countersign the resolution or utilization certificate,” he added.

Meanwhile, welcoming the accusations leveled by the KSU, Lyngdoh said, “I appreciate the organization for seeking information through RTI for the sake of transparency and without any ulterior motive.”

Recently, the KSU (Mawkyrwat Circle) had accused the Mawkyrwat legislator of misappropriating funds from the MLA scheme while referring to documents obtained through an RTI application filed in October 2012.

The KSU has alleged that the legislator had misappropriated funds from the Special Rural Works Programme (SRWP) between 2008 and 2012 by funding different units of the Mahila Congress in Mawkyrwat, purchase of 200 litre capacity Sintex tanks for 100 households instead of 500 litres as documented and anomalies in the construction of fence around the MSDSA stadium involving members of the implementation committee in collusion with the legislator.