Shillong, Aug 25: National People’s Party (NPP) national president and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma on Thursday declared Rocky Hek as the official candidate of the party from Pynthorumkhrah constituency in the upcoming 2023 assembly elections in the state.
Rocky quit the BJP and formally joined the NPP on Thursday to contest against his uncle Alexander Laloo Hek, who is a five-time legislator from the constituency.
He was welcomed by Sangma in the presence of NPP national vice president and deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong, state president and Rajya Sabha MP Dr WR Kharlukhi, MLAs and leaders of the party.
We heartily welcome Shri Rocky Hek to the NPP family and also affirm him as NPP’s candidate for 14- Pynthorumkhrah constituency for the upcoming Meghalaya Legislative elections in 2023. pic.twitter.com/AtubPRGeDD
— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) August 25, 2022
Rocky said he is not contesting against his uncle AL Hek but is contesting for the overall development of the constituency. “I am contesting for the women folks who are fighting every day for their family; I am also contesting against drugs that are detrimental to the welfare of our youth. We are not promising government jobs but we are assured that we will find ways and means to empower the youth through entrepreneurship and others to give them a sustainable livelihood,” he said.
Stating that family and politics should not be mixed, Rocky said, “Family is family and politics is politics, the two have to be separated. This is my personal decision to contest and the aim is to ensure overall development of the constituency.”
When asked, Rocky said that over 12,000 people have attended the meeting out of love and respect for his contributions to the constituency for the past 25 years. “The crowd today is my confidence to win the upcoming elections,” he said.
Rocky said that though he is yet to be an MLA but the chief minister had already assured to fulfill many of the aspirations of the people from the constituency. He said an ambulance will be given to Shyiap, resolving the water crisis faced by Mawpat since 2009 besides sanctioning of football grounds, streetlights among others.
He said the deputy chief minister had also assured to look into the memorandum submitted by Langkyrding.
