SHILLONG:
Newly-elected Voice of the People Party (VPP) MLA from Mawlai Brightstarwell Marbaniang has said that his vision for Mawlai is in line with the vision of the party for the state as a whole which is to revive, to restore and to transform.
Marbaniang shocked some political pundits as he emerged the winner with close contenders being MDC of Mawlai and National People’s Party (NPP) candidate Teibor Pathaw and ousted former MLA of Mawlai P.T. Sawkmie.
Speaking to The Meghalayan, he oozed confidence when he said that winning the elections was not a surprise for him as he could understand the pulse of the people.
He said, “You might not believe but I had already seen that I would be there.”
On why he chose politics, he said, “Politics is what decides everything in life. Throughout my experience, I have been in government service, in the police and I have been a teacher. I realise that if you really want to do something good and to contribute, this is the place where you really can make a difference.”
As for political awareness amongst the youth, he observed that the youth are politically unaware to some extent but maintained that nowadays people are more inclined towards politics.
Commenting on the education sector, he rued that the scenario in the state is very bad.
“I have been talking to people and throughout my election campaign also, this is one area which I have been focussing on and informing the public that we need to come out of slumber as far as education is concerned,” he said.
Asked as to why VPP, Marbaniang simply said that the ideology of the party is in line with his.
A teacher of Political Science in St. Anthony’s College, he has a message for aspiring politicians where he urged them to start early.
He said, “I told them that if their intention to join politics is to serve the people then you should start early and make sure that by 35 years, you should be there.”