Tura, Oct 21: The election results for Tura’s Hindu Shamshan Bhoomi Committee (HSBC) were declared on Monday, which was won by Team B led by Prabin Panthi.
Three teams – named Team A, Team B and Team C, fought to form the working committee of the Hindu Shamshan Bhoomi, which has been in a dilapitated condition due to lack of proper management for almost 8 years.
Following the failure to conduct elections in 2016-17, the issue to re-elect a new committee reached the Meghalaya High Court. The court directed the recent election, polling for which was held on October 19.
With a total of 14,790 eligible voters in North Tura and South Tura, the election saw a turnout of 5,558 voters, a participation rate of 37.10%.
The winning Team B secured 2564 votes, while the runner up Team C secured 1523 votes and Team A secured 1253 votes.
On Monday, Deputy Commissioner of West Garo Hills, Jagdish Chelani awarded the winning team with the winning certificate, in the presence of Abraham T Sangma, Nipon Hajong and other electoral officials.
The members of Team B are: president – Prabin Panthi, vice presidents – Jibananda Koch and Animesh Sharma, general secretary – Sanjay Saha (Manik), secretary – Rajbali Prasad, treasurer cum accountant – Souvik Sanyal, and joint secretaries – Samarsingh Hajong and Subir Sarkar.
The court had nominated the Superintendent of Police of West Garo Hills, in an unofficial capacity, to act as the Returning Officer, while the District Magistrate was tasked with overseeing the peaceful conduct of the elections.
Following his team’s win, Prabin Panthi said, “I thank all the people who voted for us. I assure you that we will work towards improving the condition of the Hindu Shamshan Bhoomi, which is in a dilapidated condition. We will ensure availability of all the necessary amenities in the Shamshan Bhoomi.”
On the further course of action, he informed that an executive committee will be notified, following which a full executive committee will be constituted. The team currently has 8 members, and will need to appoint 15 more members.
On the priorities of the new executive committee, he said, “We will prepare a master plan. The priority is to clear the jungle, restore electricity, provide water supply, and restoration of the eco-friendly crematorium, which is long overdue.”
He also informed that once the eco-friendly crematorium is restored, they will call representatives from Sein Raij Jowai to give a demo on using the eco-friendly crematorium.
