KHNAM not to contest 2023 polls

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaFebruary 3, 2023

The Khun Hynniewtrep National Awakening Movement (KHNAM) on Friday announced its decision not to field any candidates for the upcoming assembly elections, to be held on February 27.

Vice president of the party Thomas Passah said that the decision was taken by the central executive committee (CEC) of the party in a meeting held on Monday, after a thorough study on the strength of the party at the grassroot level.

“While discussing whether or not to give tickets to 9 applicants and after doing some study and careful verification we found out that it will not be wise to field candidates only for name sake as at the end of the day we know our strength…”Passah said.

The KHNAM leader said, “Therefore, the objective of taking this decision is to strengthen the party so that we can participate in the other elections that are coming.”

“We have also decided that we will concentrate our strength and time in strengthening the party once again and we will prepare ourselves for the upcoming MDC elections, to be held next year,” he added.

When asked, Passah said that the party has decided not to support any political party in the coming elections.

“We have been analyzing a lot because as a party, we have our role in democracy but after analyzing all aspects of other political parties, we have decided not to support any political party and we will spend all our time and energy in strengthening the party. The reason for taking such a decision is because the last five years has been the worst governing period in the state of Meghalaya and every citizen of the state knows that. We have faced lots of trouble as a state and I think after March 2, it will be again a coalition government,” he said..

“Since elections are here, political parties have their own propaganda, agendas and manifesto but after the elections, sometimes we see all these pre-elections promises, agenda take a back seat and self-benefit, the thirst for power takes a front seat which is very sad. If we would have seen one regional party who would have maybe the chance of winning 25-30 seats, we would have but as of now, the situation of the regional parties is in a very bad shape that is why the party has decided not to support any political party,” he added.