SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has expressed optimism that the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA II) candidate, James P.K. Sangma, will easily secure a victory to become the representative for the Rajya Sabha, where he will have the opportunity to represent the state and raise important issues before the Central Government.
Speaking on the filing of the nomination, Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said, “First of all, I would like to congratulate James Sangma for filing his nomination papers, and I want to thank all the friends in the MDA who have supported James Sangma unanimously and with consensus, and today many friends were present together during the filing of the nomination.”
Regarding other candidates, the Chief Minister said, “We will still have to wait for a few hours to know if the victory will be uncontested. Therefore, whatever the case may be, we have great confidence that if there is a contest, the MDA has the necessary strength to ensure that our candidate wins in this MP Rajya Sabha election.”
Turning to the issues that the MP will raise, he said, “We feel that there are many issues that the MP should raise within Parliament, and I have confidence that James Sangma will be able to bring those issues to fruition. These include issues that are important socially and politically for our people and our State, along with matters relating to programs, various government schemes, and actively participating in legislation and debates in Parliament.”
He also said, “All these will be very important responsibilities that the MP will hold, and we expect that the MP will work as a bridge between the State Government and the Central Government, whereby various issues that the State needs to take up with different ministries, I am certain that the MP will be able to bring these various issues to reality.”
The Chief Minister added, “It is very important for us, therefore, every time we get the opportunity, we as a government and as a party take up the work with responsibility. As an MP representing the MDA and Meghalaya, the MP will play a very crucial role in making our voice heard on all the issues we have already taken up, whether it is the Eighth Schedule, Sixth Schedule, FCRA Amendment, the matter concerning illegal immigration, and issues like ILP and MRSSA. The MP will play a very important part in taking up these matters on the platform of Parliament and the Government of India.”
Regarding the talk about differences of opinion, the Chief Minister denied this, stating that there was no disagreement whatsoever, and the inability to arrive together was due to having their own schedules. June 6 was the initial day to start filing nominations, but it was changed, and other members of the MDA who were supposed to be here could not make it.
The Chief Minister pointed out that the reality is that he will represent the State of Meghalaya in the Rajya Sabha, which is a six-year term, and therefore it is clear that he will represent the State for six years.
