"This time there is every possibility that we would sweep the polls in Jaintia Hills and Ri-Bhoi districts. We are confident of winning a good number of seats in Garo Hills and also in both East and West Khasi Hills," Dr Roy told reporters after releasing the UDP poll manifesto here on Thursday.

He, however, said even if the party got a clear majority in the election "his party would always be open to working with any political parties and individuals who believe in stability, mutual respect and complete eradication of corruption in the State."

Dr Roy claimed that UDP's stand on corruption-free governance after the elections had been accepted well by the people.

"The positive response that the party has been receiving from all over the State is an indication that a clear majority for the party is possible," he said.

Interestingly, though UDP has been a major ally of the MDA Government, the UDP chief pleaded ignorance of the schemes and policies that he termed as "seeds of corruption."

As part of the MDA Cabinet, UDP legislators, including Dr Roy, were party to signing the power deals with private parties and other crucial decisions on issues like the State Industrial Policy.

Dr Roy also preferred to distance himself and his party from the controversies surrounding the MDA Government.

Despite disagreements on some decisions taken by Congress, UDP continued to stay with MDA.

"We decided to continue our support as we were committed to staying with the MDA Government till the end of full term of the government for the sake of stability."

Incidentally, UDP had in the past condemned the frequent change of leadership in Congress and held it responsible for the government coming to a standstill for several months.

"The leadership tussle within Congress caused a huge loss to the State exchequer," Dr Roy pointed out.

He also said UDP had supported JD Rymbai as Chief Minister and wanted him to be that way, adding, "We could not do anything as Mr Rymbai himself decided to resign as per the direction of the Congress high command."

Referring to the controversial power deals, Dr Roy said, "UDP has been firm in its opposition to the recent power deals, although this time we really thought of coming out of the government. However, we later felt it would be useless to come out of the government with only two months left for the election."

On the issue of unification of MDP and UDP, he said 90 per cent of MDP members had switched over to UDP.

"We failed to convince MDP president Martle N Mukhim to come back to the party (UDP)," he added.

UDP is fielding 54 candidates, including four women nominees -- three in Garo Hills and one in Khasi and Jaintia Hills.

SHILLONG: Congress on Thursday said it would work for stability and further development of the State if the party came back to power after the March-3 elections, while claiming that Meghalaya had developed "tremendously under Congress-led rule."

Kicking off the party's election campaign in Shillong, AICC general secretary in-charge of Meghalaya, Margaret Alva said Congress had been keen on helping Meghalaya develop like other states of the northeastern region.

"The State as well as the North-East has developed tremendously under Congress rule. Our party is committed to working for stability and development of the State. People should give us a chance to return to power so that we can fulfill our agenda of development for the State," Mrs Alva said.

Mrs Alva was addressing a party rally at Mawlai. Another AICC leader Ved Prakash, MPCC president OL Nongtdu and Congress candidate for Mawlai constituency Founder Strong Cajee were also present during the election campaign. Mrs Alva later campaigned for party nominee for Laitumkhrah seat Nicky F Lyngdoh.

Laying stress on youth development, Mrs Alva said Congress would create infrastructure in the State to provide employment to local youth.

She appealed to the people to refrain from supporting parties "which have no ideologies" and lashed out at the BJP, terming it as a communal party.

Stating that Congress had implemented several development schemes for tribal welfare in the country, Mrs Alva further claimed that it was Congress which had taken initiative for reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in the legislature.

SHILLONG: To ensure fair and peaceful elections, the Meghalaya Government has sought help of its Assam counterpart in maintaining law and order along the inter-state border, particularly in militant-infested areas.

The State Government's plea to the neighbouring state has come amid reports of presence of rebel groups like NDFB, DHD (Black Widow) and ULFA along the inter-state border.

Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) PK Naik on Thursday said he had a meeting with the Assam CEO H Narzary and State and Assam police officials to discuss the law-and-order situation in border areas.

Mr Naik said several militant groups were operating in Karbi Anglong, Kamrup and Goalpara districts of Assam.

"We have requested the Assam Government to ensure that no polling personnel are harassed while crossing Assam border to reach their respective polling stations on Meghalaya side," Mr Naik said.

There are at least 64 polling stations in Meghalaya, which could be reached by crossing the Assam border. They include 19 in Jaintia Hills, 11 in Ri-Bhoi district, 8 in West Khasi Hills and 26 in Garo Hills.

According to Mr Naik, Assam has assured full co-operation to assist the State during the elections.

Further meetings will be held by deputy commissioners and SPs of both Assam and Meghalaya, he added.

Meanwhile, DGP BK Dey Sawian said ten additional companies of Central paramilitary forces arrived in Shillong on Wednesday and that deployment of forces in various districts would be made after assessing the ground reality.

He also said Meghalaya would assist the Unified Command in Assam in flushing out ULFA rebels from border areas.

"The police in Meghalaya and Assam are also sharing intelligence inputs to check movement of ULFA militants and take pro-active steps to control their activities," Mr Sawian said.

SHILLONG: UDP president Dr Donkupar Roy released a 19-point party election manifesto here on Thursday.

Highlighting some of the points in the election manifesto, Dr Roy stressed on the need to review the State Industrial Policy, saying the present policy had benefitted only a certain section of people and there was also a huge exploitation of the State’s natural resources by the few industries set up in the State.

"The present policy has totally failed to bring maximum benefit to the State. It has helped neither employment nor uplift of the State economy," Dr Roy said.

He hoped that the new government would take the responsibility of initiating the process of reviewing the Industrial Policy and ensure that the new policy would bring maximum benefit to the people and also provide extensive employment to the local population.

On the uranium mining issue, the UDP president said, "The party endorses the stand of the KHADC Parliamentary Party, demanding the UCIL and other authorities concerned to issue a white paper on this issue, containing comprehensive information on mining and other scientific processes on uranium mining, including acquisition of land and other precautionary measures to protect the environment and liives of the people of the region in confirmity with international norms before any final step is taken for mining."

He said at present any proposal for mining should be suspended for an indefinite period for it is better to be "safe than sorry."

On the power sector, Dr Roy said at present the capacity for generation of electricity in the State was very low. "Considering this fact, no doubt we need more power projects to be taken up in the State. However, before handing over the projects to any party we should ensure that the State gets the maximum benefit," Dr Roy said.

The UDP president also clarified that the party is not against the concept of joint venture. However there should be transparency and proper discussion before signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with any party on the power projects.

"We are very clear that the present agreement with the private companies on the power deal should be scrapped," Dr Roy said.

He said that the party would make special efforts to provide road connectivity to all the villages in the State, maintenance of the existing road and clearance of contractor bills which have been pending for so long.

"Agriculture is still the mainstay of the people in rural areas. However, after 36 years of Statehood the agricultural sector still remains under-developed," Dr Roy said, adding that the party firmly believes that unless the government seriously addresses on the twin issues of marketing and price control, the plight of the farmers would not see the light of the day.

"The UDP is concerned over the intrusion of the Army and other paramilitary forces into the private-owned lands," the UDP president said adding that alienation of land by the forces has to be stopped in the interest of civil population and efforts should be made to reclaim the unused land under military custody. On crimes and abuse against women, Dr Roy said that organised crime against women and children are on the rise, leaving them to be the vulnerable section, adding that considering this factor the party shall formulate and implement special programmes for holistic development of women with special focus to improve their socio economic status.

Other issues that were highlighted in the party's election manifesto includes health and medical care, education, water supply, youth and sports, law and order problem and others.

In a statement issued here, WMYU president Roland Budon said his organisation had obtained information through RTI application on utilisation of fund under MLA schemes in the entire constituency and not just from Pynursla Community Development Block as alleged by Mr Tynsong recently. "On the claim by Mr Tynsong that we failed to collect all facts and figures through RTI, we would like to tell him that if he is not satisfied with our findings, then he should provide all facts and figures on the matter to prove that he has honestly implemented the schemes in his constituency" Mr Budon said.

Regarding Mr Tynsong's recent clarification on the implementation of development schemes like SRWP, ISYDP, CRRP and IACDP, the Union said it was surprising that the accounts were made public only after five years of his tenure as legislator.

The WMYU leader also said that the account provided by Mr Tynsong regarding implementation of SRWP from 2003-2006 to the tune of Rs 1.04 crore was not at all factual since RTI findings on the same show that the utilised amount was Rs 99.70 lakh. It also said the total amount spent on IAY as per RTI findings was Rs 4.20 lakh.

"It is crystal clear that the account provided recently to the media by Mr Tynsong on utilisation of SRWP scheme is totally wrong. Now a big question arises as to why there is no transparency and accountability in implementation of MLA scheme by him" Mr Budon said.

The WMYU leader also said that it would apply for more documents under RTI Act regarding utilisation of development schemes like CRRP, ISYDP, IACDP and DTFM, adding the schemes appeared to have not been implemented in Lyngkyrdem constituency.

Meanwhile, Kyntiewlang Sports and Cultural Club, Mawlai Motsyiar has clarified that it was not at all a ghost club as alleged by All Mawlai Forum for Eradication of Corruption (AMFEC) recently.

SHILLONG: Union Agriculture Minister and NCP president Sharad Pawar on Thursday tried to play up his party's image while wooing voters to vote for his party in Meghalaya.

Notwithstanding the fact that NCP and Congress are sharing power at the Centre, Mr Pawar blamed the Congress-led MDA Government for not looking after the agriculture sector properly. He claimed that the State Government had not responded to the Centrally-sponsored schemes, which were meant to uplift the agriculture sector in the State.

Incidentally, the agriculture sector has been the most neglected one not just by the previous Government, but by almost all the governments that have ruled Meghalaya since its statehood. It has been a history of a sorry state of affairs with just about no government willing to understand the importance of giving the agriculture sector its due.

However, Mr Pawar was perhaps not willing to get back into too much of history, as his one-point agenda was to get votes for his party in Meghalaya. He said despite being rich in mineral resources, Meghalaya had been regarded as one of the most backward states of the country.

Addressing a party public rally in Sohiong constituency, Mr Pawar said this was revealed at the meeting of the Planning Commission held in New Delhi recently.

"This stage of backwardness of the State is due to the lack of initiatives" on the part of the State Government to seek for Centrally-sponsored schemes for overall development of the State," Mr Pawar said. He said in the past five years, there were very few proposals that the State Government had submitted to the Centre to avails of its various schemes and projects.

"In the past one year I have not received any proposal from the State Government on agriculture projects and this only proves the lack of responsibility on the part of the people's representatives to work for the masses," Mr Pawar said.

This statement on the part of the Union Agriculture Minister is somewhat shocking as the government had declared 2007 as the "Year of the Farmer" and yet they failed to put forward any proposal to the Centre on agricultural development. He said this was not expected from a State where its agriculture is still under-developed and also where a majority of the people still depend on various agricultural practices for their livelihood.

According to the Union Agriculture Minister, there are agricultural development projects where the subsidy is up to 60 per cent and this kind of projects have proved to be very effective in states like Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.

"These projects also encourage the farmers to start fishery pond alongside with other agricultural activities," Mr Pawar said. However, he said the State needs leaders who have a vision for overall development of the State and, according to him, there is no better individual who is more capable and experienced than NCP general secretary Purno A Sangma.

The NCP president said, "We are very confident of getting an absolute majority and this is for the first time that the party has managed to put up a large number of good candidates which have huge potential.

"We are open to work with any party who believes in accountability, transparency and stability," Mr Pawar added.

Mr Pawar also addressed an election campaign in Jowai.

SHILLONG: Mylliem legislator Pynshai Manik Syiem has termed the allegations by a group of residents of the constituency as baseless and a political ploy to malign his image.

Reacting to reports in a section of the press here on Thursday, Mr Syiem said that the allegations made by the headman of Mylliem Madan Iing Syiem Wanbor Sohlang against misuse of funds for construction of office-cum-residence of the headman never existed. He said the allegation is totally baseless adding that the construction has been completed by the Mylliem Constituency Development Council through Moon Kharpuri and that the completion certificate was signed by the headman Mr Sohlang himself.

"Regarding the occupying of this office it is not for me to look out but it is the duty of the headman to function from the newly constructed office which has been constructed under the Chief Minister Rural Development Fund Scheme 2004-2005. He further said that as for the schemes SGSY and SGRY are not under his jurisdiction as they do not fall under the MLA scheme.

Meanwhile, Mawkhen, Mawnianglah and Pomkaniew Rangbah Shnongs express ed serious concern on this allegation made against Mr Syiem.

All the Rangbah Shnongs have also claimed that the MLA had implemented the schemes in their villages by constructing and improving of grounds which were used for all the purpose including traditional dance if the necessary.

They have also expressed strong oppositions to the outsiders like Spar Lyngdoh, Mr P Nongkhlaw and Laitjem Sports, Social and Cultural Club general secretary Mr SG Khongiong for trying to gain political image by creating such a row.

Star campaigners are a political strategy to woo voters. Whether voters are actually convinced by these meteorites that descend on Meghalaya once in five years, make tall promises, and disappear from the scene until the next elections, is a moot point. If candidates have done their homework in the past five years would they need a rank outsider to boost their election campaigns? Take the case of Mr PM Syiem who has represented Mylliem for the past fifteen years. He has always contested and won as an independent candidate purely on merit. This is the first time that he has joined a political party. Even so he hardly needs any bigwigs from elsewhere to campaign for him.

Mylliem is actually a classic case of good constituency management. But having done that for so long Mr Syiem perhaps feels he has more to contribute to state politics and to engage more actively in issues that matter to Meghalaya, particularly in the light of this region's geo-political significance. And that becomes easier if an MLA has the backing of the party. Before every assembly election Mr Syiem has left people guessing as to whether he would join this or that party. Eventually he would decide to go it alone. This time he has obviously made his calculations before throwing his weight behind the NCP. Not wont to engage in dialectics or political rhetoric, Mr Syiem believes that his work will speak for him.

For the people of Meghalaya the Congress party shenanigans of March last year are still very fresh. The sordid attempts to dislodge Mr JD Rymbai from the chief minister's chair through subterfuge, is unpardonable. Rymbai is one legislator who has conducted himself with dignity over the decades. Maybe he did not have the killer instinct that hard-boiled politics demands. But the fact remains that he would have taken Meghalaya away from the murky waters of sleaze and underhand deals. It did not matter to the Congress High Command that the common people in Meghalaya were happy with Mr JD Rymbai and his ministerial team. The height of Congress skullduggery was in full display when the High Command sent Major Ved Prakash, ostensibly, to assess the popularity of Rymbai versus Lapang through the ballot box. Ironically the ballots papers were never opened. They were taken to Delhi and have never been spoken about thereafter.

Meghalaya has never experienced such a bitter feud over leadership in the State. Later it transpired that Sonia Gandhi summoned Mr Rymbai to Delhi and gave him marching orders. She also said that Lapang would take over from him. At the time Rymbai was accompanied by Mr RG Lyngdoh his closest ally. Perhaps the dressing down that Mr Rymbai suffered dealt a body blow to the young legislator. Could that be one reason why RG Lyngdoh has opted out of this election and also, why he chooses to stay away from the campaign trail? And is this why Mr JD Rymbai is now in the UDP camp? Some wounds take time to heal. Some do not heal at all.

So when Sonia Gandhi comes visiting what good tidings does she bear for the people of Meghalaya? She has no respect for their sentiments. And she obviously does not place any value on principled politics. Otherwise why would she ask Mr JD Rymbai who symbolized the value-based politics that Mr Rajiv Gandhi propounded, and reinstall Mr Lapang who was earlier replaced by his own ministerial colleagues because they found his style of functioning dictatorial and his politics sleazy? There was a time when Sonia Gandhi meant something for Meghalaya. After March 2007 most people would associate her conduct with the downslide of the Congress party here.

Inner-party democracy within the Congress is absolutely missing. Candidates have been given tickets not solely on the recommendation of the Block Congress but on their financial clout. The Nongkrem Block Congress unanimously recommended HS Shylla. No one knows how Waibha Kyndiah got the ticket despite having lost the elections twice from the same constituency. With his indiscretion the Congress party has violated its own guidelines which stipulate that a candidate who has lost two consecutive elections shall not be given a party ticket. But that apart, it is an insult to the electorate to ask them to vote a man they have rejected twice over. But Waibha Kyndiah being Mr PR Kyndiah's son, the Congress guidelines perhaps do not apply in his case. Such double standards do immeasurable harm to the party. Indeed, in the case of Nongkrem it can be unequivocally stated that the Congress has sacrificed one seat only to appease a Union Minister with clout.

If things are bad in Ri Bhoi and East Khasi Hills, they are a shade worse in Jaintia Hills where the party is in total disarray. Staunch Congressmen/women have moved out of the party because of the chicanery of the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress, led by its President OL Nongtdu. The very fact that the party has a working president in Mr Oris Lyngdoh is indication enough that all is not well with this giant trawler out on its fishing spree in Meghalaya. How much fish the Congress party will catch this time is anybody's guess. Money power is on blatant display especially in the coal belt of Jaintia Hills. Perhaps the only candidate who does not have the money to match the words would be Dr RC Laloo who is pitted against his own brother-in-law. Sonia Gandhi could not have chosen a better constituency to make her brief appearance.

Meghalaya has never experienced such a bitter feud over leadership in the State. Later it transpired that Sonia Gandhi summoned Mr Rymbai to Delhi and gave him marching orders. She also said that Lapang would take over from him. At the time Rymbai was accompanied by Mr RG Lyngdoh his closest ally. Perhaps the dressing down that Mr Rymbai suffered dealt a body blow to the young legislator. Could that be one reason why RG Lyngdoh has opted out of this election and also, why he chooses to stay away from the campaign trail? And is this why Mr JD Rymbai is now in the UDP camp? Some wounds take time to heal. Some do not heal at all.

In Garo Hills the Congress scene is even more dismal. In 36 years of statehood Garo Hills has made no significant progress. Yet this part of Meghalaya had the first Congress Chief Minister in Dr Williamson Sangma. Mr PA Sangma's stint as chief minister was too brief to make a dent. Mr Salseng Marak ruled for a full five years but could not give Garo Hills the forward push. Dr Mukul Sangma and his brother Zenith Sangma, both ministers in the Lapang ministry and both holding extremely powerful portfolios, have according to the people of Garo Hills, been busy feathering their own nests. The condition of the Shillong-Guwahati road which is still not fully repaired has seen its worst stint during Zenith Sangma's tenure. And yet there are three contenders to the Chief Minister's chair from the Congress party in Garo Hills!

As Power Minister, Dr Mukul Sangma will be remembered for trying to short-sell Meghalaya's power projects to sundry companies without the due process of international competitive bidding. Undoubtedly there must be a lot of personal cuts involved for a minister to bulldoze the entire cabinet into endorsing something that is opaque and is sure to result in considerable loss to the State of Meghalaya. The concept of private-public-partnership is not about bringing any private company including a pan-masala manufacturer to generate hydro-electricity. This is one of the craziest ideas that one has heard.

If truth be told then there is not a single sitting Congress MLA who merits to be re-elected. That is true of other parties as well. It is time for some reputed NGO or media house from this State to do a wealth ranking of all the ministers who have served in the MDA government in the last five years. The results will surprise us. We could begin by listing their properties in and around Shillong. Do we wonder then where all the money is invested? Including the ubiquitous MLA scheme?

The star campaigners will not make any impression. They will only leave a trail of carbon footprints which we can do without.

Sir,

With the elections round the corner, some MLAs were recently seen distributing ambulances in their respective constituencies, laying foundation stones for stadia, while others were seen, busy distributing forms to distribute materials like books, clothes, household items etc to their supporters to garner as much votes as possible. Now the question is when they had won election five years ago didn't they realise that the people needed these services and would be needing them even in future too. So, why this last minute show of public service? Why use the very basic services that we are supposed to have as election strategies? Reason-the greed to hang on to power at all costs even it means fooling the very people who put them there in the first place. We as electorate need to read through this common tactic of politicians and give some thought as to whom we should elect as our leader -- someone who will take us to the next stage of development. In the last five years we've seen a phlegmatic and non-performing government which has no major policy to boast of, riddled with allegations of corruption and mis-management, led by a leader who has become persona non-grata. If we fail to judiciously vote this time again, the blame will fall on us.

Yours etc.,
Hubert Diengdoh
Via e-mail

Sir,

Assembly election takes place once in five years. But for Meghalaya if there is election every year it is good for the development of roads. We see all over Garo Hills the road workers are working day in and day out to repair roads. Road engineers are moving everywhere and patch-up work is going on in full swing. Singimary- Phulbari road, for the past 3-4 years did not see a road roller. Every ten metres, we see the road is cut for irrigation purpose. PWD has no problem. But problem is for those who use the road. Is it allowed to make gutters in the road for some people with out permission? I travel on this road very often, but never able to drive vehicle above 30km speed. Floods have damaged the roads, but now in the past two months conditions of roads have improved! Since candidates started to move, road work also started. So if we have elections every year road also will be in good condition.

Yours etc.,
B Marak
Via e-mail

Sir,

The state government's recent decision to ban teachers from taking part in election campaign is undemocratic. It also reflects the vagueness of the entire meaning of democracy. If we are thinking that we are the largest democracy then we are fooling ourselves with this notion. Restraint of this kind, I feel, amounts to violation of our Fundamental Rights as laid down in the Constitution. I hope that those concerned with such orders would surely read through the Constitution before issuing further order.

Your etc.,
Dominic S.Wankhar
Shillong

According to a highly-placed official source here, Indian border sentinels from Sashastra Seema Bol (SSB) deployed along Indo-Bhutan border is closely monitoring the development in the tiny Himalayan kingdom.

The source informed that the RBA had so far demolished two newly set up camps of the BTF Bhutanese and arrested 16 militants with arms and ammunition. Some of the senior leaders of the BTF were suspected to have escaped the wrath of the RBA which has launched a combing operation to trace the BTF militants at large.

The RBA launched the crackdown in the wake of growing activities of the BTF that triggered two blasts recently in Bhutan areas bordering north Assam districts. Bhutan’s state-run newspaper, Kuensel, reported that Bhutan authorities believed that the Maoist rebels from Nepal had sneaked into its territory through Assam.

However, Indian security sources a highly-placed source claimed that the Maoist guerrillas might have entered Bhutan from Nepal via hills of Darjeeling and New Jalpaiguri areas in North Bengal. The SSB has deployed six of its battalions along the India-Bhutan border.

Assam police claimed that it was yet to come across any concrete evidence to believe that Maoist rebels had entered the Himalayan kingdom from Nepal through Assam.

The BTF has been formed by Bhutanese refugees taking shelter in Nepal. The members of the outfit were suspected to be motivated and trained by Maoist militants active in Nepal.

The SSB was deployed along the Indo-Bhutan border in the wake of December, 2003 crackdown by the Bhutanese Army on Indian rebel groups -- the ULFA, NDFB and KLO -- taking shelter in that country.

Agartala: A record 60,000 security personnel have been deployed along with air surveillance as Tripura goes to assembly polls on Saturday.

"About 14,000 poll officials escorted by security forces have left for the 2,391 polling stations across the state," said G.S.G. Ayyangar, chief electoral officer.

"An aerial surveillances would be done by senior police officers covering all remote places considered to be vulnerable from the extremist point of view, and this exercise by helicopters would go along with the operations on the ground," police spokesman Nepal Das said.

In all 2.03 million people, about half of them women, are eligible to vote and elect 60 legislators from among the 313 candidates of various political parties.

Of the 313 aspirants, 31 are women and 64 are independents.

"The central government has despatched 20,000 more paramilitary troopers from the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and they have been deployed in the insurgency- and violence-prone areas of the state," the CEO said.

According to him, of the 2,391 polling stations, 108 polling stations have been categorised as very vulnerable and 550 polling stations as vulnerable in view of militancy and other security related problems.

The Election Commission for the first time has deployed 750 micro observers to assist 60 general observers to oversee the poll preparations.

Terming Saturday's polls as 'model' elections, the poll panel is deploying modified electronic voting machines (EVM) to check possible malpractices and rigging. The month-long hectic campaign ended at 4 p.m. with the political parties appealing to the people to cast their votes for their candidates.

National leaders of all political parties, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) leaders Rajnath Singh and Murli Monohar Joshi and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat addressed rallies. (IANS)

Aizawl: With a pledge to strive for good governance, educated young people from different professions on Thursday formed the 'Youth Movement for Mizoram' (YMM).

The YMM, in a declaration said since "free and fair election is the foundation of democracy, we declare that we are willing to participate and strive for the utmost highest to achieve the same," while not classifying itself as a political entity.

Imploring all the young people of mizoram to step forward for good governance, the YMM said that the youth would fight unitedly against corruption, favoritism, nepotism and offcourse malgovernance. The YMM declared that the state was in dire need for people with sense of responsibility, morality along with honourability and that the youth are genuinely committed to ensure persons with such qualities should govern Mizoram. The organization was formed by like-minded groups which came up earlier in Aizawl, Lunglei, Champhai and Serchhip districts under different names. (PTI)