Tura, April 15: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has reacted to the results of the GHADC elections stating that he and his party accepted and respects the mandate given by the people of Garo Hills.

Speaking to media persons at his home in Tura Walbakgre, shortly after the declaration of results where his party-the NPP was pushed to the second position by the Congress, the chief minister said, “As we accept and respect the mandate of the people, we are determined to work even harder. It is important to learn from this experience.”

On the defeat in Tura MDC seat at the hands of the BJP, the chief minister acknowledged that the contest witnessed a tough fight due to various reasons.

“A large number of the employees of the GHADC hail from Tura and they have been unhappy because of non-payment of salaries for thirty months. The blame was on the NPP-led EC for non-clearance of their salaries,” said the chief minister.

On the drop in the number of seats in this election, Conrad Sangma admitted that there were many factors including a possible anti-incumbency.

“We had expected to cross the halfway mark of 15 but couldn’t do so. Even in the last elections when Congress was the outgoing EC in GHADC they couldn’t repeat the numbers they had won the previous election.

In that election, the opposition NPP overtook the ruling Congress to win 10 seats against 7.

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