We are reaching out to you about your support in raising resources for the election campaign of KAM Meghalaya for the State elections in February/March 2023. KAM Meghalaya has been formed as a citizen’s platform with a voice and resolve to bring about positive change. Like many other Indian languages, KAM in the local language also means WORK. It has emerged from the diverse movements and campaigns of the people for a just and inclusive Meghalaya, and is fired by our experiences in people’s struggles in different arenas from workers rights to gender justice, to anti corruption and RTI movements, to land rights and environmental justice, to challenging authoritarianism and fundamentalism and defending individual rights and various other freedoms. We firmly believe that a collective and participatory space for citizens’ engagement toward a more equitable, inclusive Meghalaya that believes in justice, development and rule of law is possible. We are ready to facilitate and to fight for that reality challenging corruption, criminality and communalism which has captured governance in Meghalaya. We are therefore throwing in our hats to get into the structure of democracy and governance which needs desperate change. We firmly believe that political power needs to be redefined collectively in Meghalaya. We are three of us getting into the fray for the upcoming elections from the North Shillong, South Shillong and East Shillong MLA constituencies to challenge the idea that politics in Meghalaya cannot be defined by this consensus of cynicism. All three of us, Angela Rangad, Wanpynhun Kharsyntiew and Kyrsoibor Pytuh are backed by years of social justice work and organising on the ground.
We have entered the last leg of our progressive electoral intervention in the upcoming Meghalaya Legislative Assembly Elections of 2023. We are three candidates: Angela Rangad, Wanpynhun Kharsyntiew, and Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh.
The elections will be announced soon and we need your support more than ever. We need more funds in order to increase the number of community volunteers, launch and publicize our manifesto, as well as to intensify our outreach efforts once the elections are announced so that our momentum doesn’t get crowded out amidst last-minute campaign frenzy by the established political parties like the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the National People’s Party (NPP), the Indian National Congress (INC), and other regional parties. In order to continue the momentum we have built so far in all three of our constituencies and to give a final boost to our efforts, we aim to raise 15 lacs in the next 15 days. It may seem like a tall task but we believe it is possible! In order to continue the momentum we have built so far in all three of our constituencies and to give a final boost to our efforts, we aim to raise 15 lacs in the next 15 days. It may seem like a tall task but we believe it is possible!
People’s contributions towards our campaign, over the last 6 months, have been quite encouraging (our accounts disclosures are here) and have played an instrumental role in enabling us to reach close to 65% of the households in each of our constituencies. They have contributed to our initial printing and publicity efforts along with public meetings, street meetings, pocket meetings, and other forms of engagements to crowdsource ideas to build a people’s manifesto for the state and our constituencies. We have also been able to launch an anthem of solidarity (please turn the captions ON for English subtitles) Ka Kam Kan Ialam where leading musicians of Shillong also contributed immensely. We also have set up two campaign offices – one in South Shillong (Laban) and one in East Shillong (Malki). Lastly, unlike other campaigns in Meghalaya, our publicity and outreach is multilingual – Khasi, English, Hindi, Bengali and Nepali – which has proven to be a very successful strategy for mobilization so far. You can find all the campaign resources, photos, and media coverage HERE.
We have not only succeeded in creating a progressive discourse around key electoral issues through our campaign but have also pushed the boundaries of conventional politics by being the only platform that articulated a non-sectarian response in recent violence on the streets of Shillong, firing on the Assam-Meghalaya border (Mukroh) where 6 people were killed, and on drug-related issues in our community. We also led a very successful signature campaign Our political mobilization around these issues have led to peace meetings between communities to establish harmony and have successfully demonstrated the role of politics rooted in justice, liberty, and fraternity in Meghalaya.
Although our budget for this campaign of three candidates is embarrassingly low considering the electoral tradition of Meghalaya, we still need to reach out to more people and that’s why we are writing to you.
If you wish to contribute, here are the bank details:
Angela G Rangad
Bank : State Bank of India, Laban Branch, Shillong
Account Number : 41184308962
IFSC Code: SBIN0005135
Type of Account: Current Bank Account
UPI ID : [email protected]
Wanpynhun Kharsyntiew
UPI ID : [email protected]
State Bank of India
Malki, Shillong
A/C : 41193800205
IFSC : SBIN0009105
Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh
UPI ID : [email protected]
Union Bank of India
Jail Road, Shillong
A/C : 167511010000018
IFSC : UBIN0816752
We also request you to share the appeal with your friends, family, and any other well wishers who may be interested in our campaign and progressive movements so that the pool of supporters becomes wider. We would be very grateful if you could help us reach our goal of 15 lacs in 15 days. We have also attached our initial appeal for your convenience, which also has our budget. If you have shared the appeal already, we request you to tell us about them so that we can be in touch with them directly.
APPEAL FROM MEGHALAYA Small.pdf
We cannot begin to tell you how heartening all this has been and has further strengthened our commitment to challenging the criminal capture of democratic processes in Meghalaya.
If you have any questions feel free to WhatsApp/Signal us on 9863061770 (Tarun) / 9863097754 (Angela). We have also copied and attached our initial appeal for your convenience, which also has a detailed budget for KAM Meghalaya’s campaign.
Looking forward to your support.
Thank you,
With Love & Solidarity
Angela Rangad, Kyrsoibor Pyrtuh, and Wanpynhun Kharsyntiew