Shillong, Nov 28: The lone woman legislator from Garo Hills, who also happens to be the first female MLA of Gambegre, Dr Mehtab Chandee A Sangma, was sworn in on Wednesday by Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Thoams A Sangma in Shillong.
Wife of Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Dr Mehtab Chandee A Sangma pledged to address the burning issues plaguing Gambegre on a war footing, particularly health care, electricity problems and poor road connectivity.
The oath of office to Dr Chandee was administered by the Assembly Speaker Thomas A Sangma in presence of chief minster and NPP national president Conrad K Sangma and top leaders and workers of the party.
Dr Chandee is the fourth woman legislator in the Assembly after she defeated her closest rival Sadhiarani Sangma of TMC by a comfortable margin of 4594 votes in the just concluded bye election to Gambegre.
Addressing waiting mediapersons shoetly after her swearing in, the new Gambegre MLA said, “It is a little overwhelming job I think because politics is something which is very demanding and I hope I will be able to live up to the expectation of the people.”
She assured to address the issues confronting the people of the constituency especially in terms of health care, roads and electricity.
“The past few months that I have toured my constituency, I have witnessed the backwardness of my region, which is more than other parts of Garo Hills, and I realised that the first core issues that needs to be tackled are health care, roads and electricity. Many villages are still without power, many schools are in dilapidated conditions and there are still so many villages still to be connected by roads – I think those are the things, which will matter most and I think I will take these issues first,” Dr Chandee said.
Stating that the people of Gambegre had voted for development, she said, “Of course, I think it was the main idea that people could realise and they have seen that in the past few years nothing has happened much so they wanted to be part of the government and I think that is what they have voted for.”
Asked, the newly elected legislator said, “Well you cannot expect the same personality because I am very different person from what Saleng is. I think he has got a different personality and so am I. I would take up the issues but not in terms of what he has done. I think the issues of the area, the issues of the constituency of course and matters, which are related to the public.”
Asserting the need for women to join politics, Dr Chandee said, “On general I have always been saying this that women in politics is very less. I think that’s the nature of how politics has been because it is a very difficult job and it is very demanding and I think we as women and as equal participant in the society should come out more and participate more. I just hope that me being one I hope so many women get the encouragement that they need to come out and be a part of politics.”
Mehtab, won the Gambegre Assembly by-election, securing 12,678 votes. The by-election was held on November 13 after the sitting MLA, Saleng Sangma, vacated the seat following his election to the Lok Sabha from the Tura constituency.
The by-election recorded a high voter turnout of 90.93%, with 33,088 voters casting their ballots. Dr. Mehtab, a medical professional making her electoral debut, defeated several prominent candidates in a fiercely contested race.
She defeated her nearest rival, Sadhiarani M. Sangma of the Trinamool Congress, by a margin of 4,594 votes. Sadhiarani, the wife of three-time former Rangsakona MLA Zenith Sangma, polled 8,084 votes. Congress candidate Jingjang M. Marak, who finished third, garnered 7,695 votes, while BJP candidate Bernard Marak managed only 710 votes.
With this win, the NPP’s strength in the State Assembly has increased to 32, giving the party a clear majority in the 60-member House. This victory also marks the first time that the NPP has won the Gambegre seat.
