SHILLONG, AUG 17: National People’s Party (NPP) leader and Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong today said former Ranikor legislator Martin M Danggo is not a defector by resigning as a member of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly.
Addressing at a rally held at Rangthong village to drum up support for Danggo, who is seeking to retain his seat on an NPP ticket in the Ranikor bye-election to be held on August 23, Tynsong strongly reacted to reports which have branded Danggo as a “defector”.
“Under the Constitution, an MLA who resigns from his post to re-contest the seat is not a defector. Danggo cannot be called a defector because he first resigned from the post of MLA and from the Congress party and then joined the NPP,” he said.
Tynsong also dismissed claims that Danggo was ‘tempted’ to join the NPP because of the granting of Ranikor civil sub-division.
He said that Danggo sacrificed the seat for the sake and betterment of the people of Ranikor constituency.
Tynsong 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.
The deputy chief minister also went on to elaborate that the Ranikor civil-sub division is a blessing to the people of the region because it will bring the government closer to the people.
Talking about agenda of the NPP under the leadership of Conrad Sangma, Tyngsong said that 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.
On the other hand, the deputy chief minister also said that 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.
According to him, the party stands for positivity and fairness and it fights elections based on principles and issues that concern the common people.
In his speech, Danggo recounted the struggles that he undertook to get the civil sub-division for Ranikor when DD Lapang and Mukul Sangma were chief ministers of the state.
He said that despite numerous requests and prayers, both of them refused to consider the case for many years.
In desperation, Danggo said that he and his party workers decided to approach Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to demand for the civil sub-division for Ranikor this year.
“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 said.
He said he resigned from the post of MLA as a mark of gratitude to chief minister Mr. Conrad Sangma and because he believed that NPP is the only party that can bring real development to the people of the region and the state as a whole.
The rally was attended by NPP state president Dr W. Kharlukhi, Minister of Industries Sniawbhalang Dhar, Williamnagar MLA Marcuise N. Marak, Mawshynrut MLA Gigur Myrthong and MDC of Sohryngkham Pyniaid S Syiem.
By Our Reporter
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