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SHILLONG:
Tura MDC and BJP leader Bernard N Marak, on Sunday requested Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to declare Tura as the winter capital, in his upcoming meetings scheduled with groups who have been demanding the same.
In a statement, Marak said that the CM should credit the people of Garo Hills who elected 16 MLAs, but especially Tura who elected him because he is a Garo and also because he represents a Garo party – the National People’s Party (NPP).
Marak said, “NPP was formed to stand as a Garo party in the national political scenario and to work for the welfare of the Garo people politically. It is time to prove the ideology of the NPP stands for the Garos. The people of Garo Hills have voted for late P A Sangma who considered Garos as his own children.”
Furthermore, the BJP leader stated that the demand for winter capital should be considered keeping in mind that Garos have empowered his family and the NPP.
Regarding the issue of reservation, Marak said, “Conrad Sangma should fulfill his promise of providing 5 lakh jobs for the youths of Meghalaya. He made this promise in his campaign that he would create 5 lakh jobs if elected to power which he should make happen for the welfare of the youth. Looking at it prospectively, 5 lakh jobs plus backlog should not be that much of a problem to solve.”
Marak also said the CM’s decision of meeting the protesters after 13 days of hunger strike can be considered “Better late than never” as he said, “I thank the CM but deciding to meet the protestors at Tura Circuit House instead of the protest site which is just across the CM’s Tura office is not right as the protestors camped there for last 13 days. Protestors should be given due respect as the chief minister responded after 13 days, which is more than 2 weeks.”
Slamming the NPP for treating the BJP as an opposition in Garo Hills, Marak said, “Lastly, NPP treats BJP as an opposition in Garo Hills so there is no alliance in Garo Hills.”