Congress MDC of Garo Hills joins NPP

From A Reporter

SHILLONG, March 23: A Congress MDC of Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) resigned from the party and joined the tiol People’s Party (NPP) at its head office in the city on Friday.

The resigtion of the Congress member might lead to a shift in power equation and ultimately lead to the formation of a new Executive Committee in GHADC.

The MDC from 14 Betasing constituency South West Garo Hills, Nripendra Koch was today welcomed into the part fold by NPP spokesperson and Chief Whip of the ruling MDA government, Agatha Sangma and other party leaders besides a few MDCs from the GHADC.

With the joining of Koch, the total strength of the NPP in the GHADC now stands at 9 members. Speaking to reporters, the Chief Whip of the ruling MDA government said, “From what we can see, members of the Congress party have lost confidence in the leadership of their party leaders hence we are witnessing the exodus of many of its members and joining the NPP.”

She further cited that another reason for the exodus of members from other political parties is because the people believe in the leadership of Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma.

“He (Conrad) has become the new Chief Minister of Meghalaya and the people have immense faith that he will be able to transform our state including the functioning of the district council,” she said.

The NPP leader said that the Executive Committee of GHADC under the leadership of Boston Marak as CEM could not deliver on their promises plus the Congress is not in a position to improve the situation in the Council.

Stating that the NPP with nine members have yet to stake claim in the GHADC, she informed that very soon they will be approaching the Meghalaya Governor and today members of the Council will meet the District Council Affairs (DCA) Minister and the Chief Minister to discuss on the issue.

She further said that with the withdrawal of support by five members (3 Congress, 1 GNC and 1 NCP), the present ruling EC in GHADC under the leadership of Boston Marak is in a minority.

According to Sangma, the NPP with nine members will be able to form a new EC in GHADC with the support of three BJP members, one GNC, one NCP, three Congress and two Independent members.

She informed that after everything is filized they will hold a meeting to decide on the new leader in the GHADC.  

However, when asked about the reason for his resigtion from the Congress and joining the NPP, Koch did not want to make a comment or divulge the reason for his resigtion from the party.