Overview
- Governor C. H. Vijayashankar, who approved the rule Tuesday, cleared an amendment that limits Garo Hills Autonomous District Council candidates to people with Scheduled Tribe certificates.
- GHADC members had unanimously passed the change Monday after a February 17 executive order on the same point was quashed by the Meghalaya High Court for skipping required legislative steps.
- Elections set for April 10 were postponed after violent clashes left two people dead, and the council’s term was extended by six months to allow the new leadership to rewrite the rules.
- Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said the state will ask the Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills councils to mirror the rule and will review GHADC voter rolls to bar non-tribal voting, while Garo civil groups pressed the Governor for the same voter restriction.
- Under India’s Sixth Schedule, these councils protect tribal self-rule, yet non-tribal residents who lived in the area for 12 years could vote for seven decades, a practice leaders in the ruling NPP praised ending even as opposition voices credited street protests and BJP figures for forcing the shift.