As the Meghalaya Assembly election draws near, the hill state witnesses heightened political activity. Amid the election heat, a quiet, nondescript border village, Jirang, and its adjoining areas that make up the assembly constituency of Jirang in Ri Bhoi district have come into focus.
The area is situated along the Assam-Meghalaya border and owing to its location, the issues are varied and complex. A foreign-returned youth leader from the village, leaving his cosy life abroad, has jumped into the election ring, to solve the problems that afflict the area.
Adrian L Chyne Mylliem, who holds a degree in psychology from Raffles College, Singapore, is the president of the Meghalaya Pradesh Youth Congress. He is the only nominated candidate for Congress from the Jirang constituency.
The Congress is putting a lot of weight behind the next-generation leaders. Among them is 29-year-old Adrian, who is highlighting the issues of the people in border villages.
“Time and time again, various issues have cropped up over border-area residents clashing with the Assam Police personnel. The people living in the border areas feel there is no sense of security or safety for them. The MoU between the government of Meghalaya and Assam was hastily signed without taking the public’s opinions into consideration,” said Adrian, fondly known as Bah Bah by the people of his constituency.
“Many areas that are not disputed have been declared as such by the government. The people living in those areas are at a loss and a sense of trepidation prevails as they feel that their land is no longer theirs,” he told ABP Live.
Adrian had a brush with poitics quite early in his life, courtesy of his father, Lamboklang Mylliem, who was a North East Social Democratic Party MLA from the Jirang constituency between 2013 and 2018.
“I had the opportunity to disburse the schemes to the public during that period. It was a hectic task, but it felt fulfilling. The first time I toured the constituency, I noticed how underdeveloped the area was. The lack of proper roads leading up to the internal areas of the constituency, the appalling absence of good health care, the abysmal state of water supply, the dilapidated condition of the schools, and the lack of opportunities in an otherwise plentiful area pained me,” he said.
“I wanted to remedy this and make a difference… bring about a change. This is why I joined poitics. Seeing the condition of Meghalaya is disheartening, to say the least. With us, depreciating and degrading in every aspect possible, the future is at stake,” he said.
Adrian said that he did not want the potential of Meghalaya to be at the “mercy of people who will only look at the state as a means of earning and, in the process, destroy it”.
“I want Meghalaya to rise to the ranks of the other states in India and not just be in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. I want Meghalaya to be a force to be reckoned with. I truly believe that is where our potential lies,” he said.
On being questioned why he has joined Congress, when there has been a mass exodus of tall leaders from the party, Adrian replied, “The Congress is not a one-state party. Its branches extend to all corners of the country and to all facets of life. The party that fought for our Independence, for the freedom of all Indians, for the rights of the downtrodden, for Meghalaya, and for us — a people who do not constitute even a fraction of the population of India — is the party that I want to follow. Our state has grown under Congress’s rule and will continue to rise only if this party is in power,” he said.
On being asked whether he will quit the party in case there is an electoral debacle as a lot of Congress leaders left and joined TMC, BJP, and NPP, Adrian replied: “I am not a quitter. I left Singapore to work for the upliftment of my people. I put my faith in the Congress and even if everyone leaves, I will remain.”
In 2018, Jirang constituency saw a nail-biting finish, with the Congress’s Witness Day Sancley losing to Sosthenes Sohtun of National People’s Party (NPP) by a slender margin of 220 votes.
So this time around, with Congress putting its all weight behind a young, educated and dynamic leader, the political arena is headed for an interesting finish in the border constituency.
