Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma has said elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) will be held at the earliest, asserting that the government aims to complete the electoral process within the council’s extended six-month term.
Sangma said the extension was granted to allow the completion of the delimitation exercise and other necessary electoral procedures, including the preparation of a separate electoral roll.
“The elections cannot be held without the delimitation being held, and the delimitation exercise cannot be completed without the SER and the separate electoral roll coming in,” the Chief Minister said.
He explained that the delimitation exercise was extensive and that the separate electoral roll required the Governor’s approval before the committee could move forward with the final stages of delimitation.
With the process of preparing the separate electoral roll having progressed, the government is confident that the remaining formalities can be completed within the extended period, Sangma said.
Rejecting allegations that the extension was intended to postpone the elections, the Chief Minister maintained that the government had no ulterior motive and remained committed to conducting the polls as soon as possible.
“We are not trying to delay the elections for any other purpose,” he said.