Rajabala, Oct 21: Meghalaya Chief Minister and NPP party chief Conrad K Sangma launched a second day of campaign in Rajabala, this time, holding meetings in the hill areas where he sought votes in favour of “secularism” and “development”.

We continue our campaign in Rajabala constituency at Takimagre for our candidate Abdus Saleh. NPP strives for inclusive governance & we welcome the people of Rajabala to support our mission.

We also welcome Sh. Aikos Momin, UDP supporter to our party. pic.twitter.com/uynEwmpk13

— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) October 21, 2021

The chief minister was disturbed by the identity politics being played by opponents of his party’s candidates in the current campaign and said some were using the terms “tribal and non-tribal” when they should be looking at the candidate’s agenda for development.

“People should not divide themselves into caste politics but instead vote for the candidate who will work for the overall development of the region,” said Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma as he campaigned in the Garo dominated area of Takimagre in the Hills of Rajabala where a sizeable tribal population is located.

This is his second day of campaigning in the hills, after Wednesday’s rally in Garo areas of Bhajamara, as the chief minister makes every effort to unite the voters of the hills for a victory of NPP candidate Abdus Saleh.

The Rajabala by-election scheduled for October 30, is witnessing a 5 cornered contest in which two are tribal candidates who stand accused of seeking votes based on a particular community tag.

“The NPP will win with a thumping majority and there can be no room for anyone to communalise the election. Ours is a party that was founded and popularised by Late P A Sangma. Today there are only 8 recognised national parties in the country and the NPP is one of them,” said the chief minister as he called upon the people of Garo Hills to be proud of this feat and work unitedly to further strengthen it.

The NPP candidate Abdus Saleh also spoke to the public and termed the opposition parties as “scared” which is why they termed him an ‘outsider’ in the plainbelt and a ‘rori’ (non-tribal) in the hill area of Rajabala constituency.

He reminded the crowd at Takimagre that he was an MLA for three consecutive terms in Mahendraganj, where his constituents were both non-tribals and tribals alike.“I am not communal, I have been a minister in Meghalaya Govt and will continue to work for the people if elected. Those who voted for me three times included tribals and non-tribal so how can the opposition attack me as communal?” he asked.

He said that Garos and other communities across the Garo Hills are barely 14 lakh in population but NPP’s founder Late P A Sangma envisioned a party, which has now having its influence not just in Meghalaya but several other states which made the election commission to recognize it as one of the eight national parties of India.

During the election campaign, a senior UDP supporter Aikos Momin was welcomed into the NPP by Conrad K Sangma and NPP candidate Abdus Saleh. Bajendoba MLA Pongseng Marak, Williamnagar MLA Marcuise Marak, North Tura MLA Thomas Sangma, MDC Lenikar Sangma and a host of NPP leaders are campaigning to drum up support for NPP for Rajabala constituency.