Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said the government aims to hold elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) before the end of its six-month term extension, stressing that the delimitation exercise must be completed before the polls.
The Cabinet on October 7 decided to extend the GHADC’s term by another six months to facilitate the completion of the election-related process.
Sangma said the delimitation exercise had been delayed as it required the incorporation of a separate electoral roll. The process could not be completed without the Governor’s approval for the separate electoral roll, which was received around 10 days ago, he said.
Only after the approval was granted could the Delimitation Committee proceed with the final stage of the exercise, the chief minister added.
“The intention is to hold the election before this six-month term ends,” Sangma said, describing delimitation as a prerequisite for conducting the polls.
He said the government was not seeking to delay the elections for any other reason and appealed to people, particularly in the Garo Hills region, to understand the need to complete the exercise.
“The elections cannot be held without the delimitation being done, and the delimitation process cannot be held without the SIR and separate electoral roll coming out,” he said.
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