Politics / Meghalaya

Shillong, Feb. 16: The debacle of Purno A. Sangma?s party in the Meghalaya district council elections has given the Congress enough reason to rejoice. Its leaders are convinced that ?Purno Sangma can be defeated? in the parliamentary elections. Sangma will be looking to retain the Tura seat for a record fifth time.

The split in the Nationalist Congress Party, both at the Centre and in his home state, has not done Sangma?s morale any good and he has been busy doing some damage control.

The Congress in Meghalaya, which Sangma split in June 1999, has once more revved up its campaign to dislodge...

Shillong, Feb. 16: Negotiations between the Achik National Volunteers? Council (ANVC) and New Delhi have received a boost with both sides agreeing to carry forward the talks in a meeting scheduled for next month. Of late, the ANVC has expressed its desire to quit the path of violence and join the mainstream.

Top leaders of the outfit recently told The Telegraph that the ANVC is ?committed to bring back peace in the Garo hills?.

On February 8, Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga, back from Bangkok after his meeting with the NSCN (I-M) leaders, said at least three Northeast militants groups have...

SHILLONG, Feb 15 ? With the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, Congress, the major partner of the Meghalaya Democratic alliance coalition, is set to rule the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC), while the electorate did not give a clear mandate in two others, the Jaintia and Garo Hills Autonomous District Councils, reports PTI.

The Khasi, Jaintia and Garo hills autonomous district councils which do not fall under the purview of Panchayati Raj system and function under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, went to the polls on February 12. All the results of the three 30...

TURA, Feb 15 ? The Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has thrown up a hung council with the Congress and the NCP getting eleven seats each, the UDP three seats, and Independents amassing four seats in the 29 GHADC seat elections. No political party has managed to get a majority in the GHADC elections.

Among the prominent losers are sitting Congress Chief Executive Member (CEM) Winsang Ch Sangma and a host of sitting MDCs. With both the NCP and the Congress getting equal number of seats the UDP with its three MDCs and four Independents are expected to play a crucial role in the...

Shillong, Feb. 14: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A. Sangma?s support base in his home state seems to be on the wane. The results of the elections to the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Hills Autonomous District Councils, held on February 12, were declared today.

All the councils have 29 seats each. Sangma?s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) could manage only 11 out of the 87 seats in all the three district councils and failed to open its account in Khasi and Jaintia hills. The Congress is set to form the executive councils in all the three districts. While in Khasi Hills the Congress won 16 seats, in...

TURA, Feb 13?The final tally of Thursday?s polling for GHADC election has been officially put at 66.15 per cent in the three districts of Garo Hills. South Garo Hills recorded the highest turnout of voters, 67.75 per cent, followed closely behind by West Garo Hills, 65 percent, and East Garo Hills 63.70 per cent. Barring Tura constituency others recorded high turnout ov voters crossing the sixty percent mark.

Tura had the lowest turnout of approximately 33 percent followed behind by Williamnagar constituency in East Garo Hills which recorded 56 percent. The extremely low turnout of voters...

Shillong, Feb. 12: The three autonomous district council elections in Meghalaya, billed as a testing ground for Meghalaya strongman Purno Sangma, registered a 50 per cent turnout today. Polling was by and large peaceful without report of any major untoward incident, police said.

The only incident that was reported was the death of seven persons in an accident near Puriang under Sohrynkham constituency in the East Khasi Hills district.

The jeep, in which the seven persons were returning after having cast their ballots, dashed against a wall killing four on the spot. The three others died in...

TURA, Feb-12 ?Polling in the three districts of Garo Hills is expected to cross the 60 per cent mark by the end of the day as early indications revealed. Voters turned out in large numbers in most places of the Garo Hills to elect 29 members of the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC). But in Tura town voting began on a slow note with most polling stations recording low turnouts, which has been attributed to Wednesday night?s IED blast in the heart of the town.

A loud explosion ripped through the front portion of a restaurant in Tura Bazar injuring its manager and a helper. The...

New Delhi, Feb. 8: Back from another peacemaking mission to Bangkok, Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga said leaders of as many as three militant groups of the Northeast were expected to visit New Delhi within a month to begin negotiations with the Centre.

The militant leader-turned-politician met leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) and a couple of other groups during his visit to the Thailand capital. He undertook the mission at the behest of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Zoramthanga said he held ?extensive? discussions with the NSCN (I-M) leadership on...

SHILLONG, Feb 6 ? Meghalaya Chief Minister D D Lapang on Thursday alleged that the NCP leader P A Sangma's link with militants has now been proved with the banned Achik National Volunteers Council (ANVC) openly backing him in the coming Lok Sabha polls reports PTI.

The issue of Sangma playing the facilitator between the outfit and the Centre had led to acrimony last year with Lapang terming it as 'unauthorised' and welcoming any individual or organisation if their proposals came through the government.

?It (link) has been proved now," Lapang told reporters here and said Sangma would be held...