Friday, March 29, 2024
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Regional parties need a revamp

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Editor,

The regional parties of Meghalaya are not better then the monolithic Congress Party that has relied on the Nehru-Gandhi family for leadership. Even today when Rahul Gandhi is form on quitting, there are the entrenched loyalists that want Priyanka Gandhi to take over the leadership of the Congress as if there is no one else who is competent to lead the grand old Party. In many ways the regional parties in Meghalaya too have suffered from this syndrome. Mr Hopingstone Lyngdoh led the Hill State Peoples’ Democratic Party (HSPDP) for decades. No one could challenge him as long as he was alive. The United Democratic Party (UDP) has been lead by Dr Donkupar Roy after Mr EK Mawlong. There is no sign at all that the younger members of the UDP would like to see a more dynamic leader at the helm, especially since over 50% of Meghalaya’s population is under 35 years of age.

The regional parties in Meghalaya have always played second fiddle to the national parties. They can never form a government on their own and they seem to be quite satisfied with this fact. The UDP has only a thin presence in Garo Hills so it does not hold sway even in the entire state of Meghalaya. Till date we are yet to see any state-wide mobilisation to enrol members as the BJP is doing right now. Even the Congress Party seems to have given up on the membership drive.

So what is the future of the regional parties in Meghalaya? Under uninspiring leaders that do not seem to have grasped the vision for a progressive state where the aspirations of the young find a place in the policy making of the state. None of the regional parties even care enough to have a think-tank that can assist them in understanding the priorities of the State today. The BJP, whatever its credentials has a think tank in the Vivekenanda Foundation where party loyalists and intellectuals spar out to understand the key policy imperatives.

In fact Meghalaya suffers precisely from this lacuna – the complete absence of thinking about a shared future where the interests of all are being looked after. This is because the regional parties which have consistently proclaimed that they care for the “jaidbynriew” during elections seem to forget that slogan the moment elections are done and dusted.

It is amusing that the younger leaders with the capability to lead are happy to sit in the sidelines and not demand a change in leadership. Not very different from the Congress, are they?

Yours etc.,

PK Nongrum,

Via email

Mamata living in a fool’s paradise

Editor,

The statement of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee that BJP’s second consecutive Lok Sabha poll victory still remained a mystery, not a history to her is highly intriguing though uninspiring. She even said that she utterly failed to unearth this mystery of BJP’s second consecutive win in the Lok Sabha polls. As the Trinamool Congress supremo and as the Chief Minister of the mighty state of West Bengal, it is very shocking to learn that she has not been able to comprehend the direct and clear writing on the wall that led to the BJP’ win. When we read between the lines of her statement, it can be inferred that through that statement she wanted to expose some hard truths regarding the BJP’s short cut to victory.

What is so esoteric with the victory of the BJP that Mamata cannot decipher it at all? Did she mean that BJP had won by rigging the ballot? In all probability she did mean that the BJP won the elections by resorting to some dishonest practices. Such attitude being harboured months after the Lok Sabha election is not a healthy attitude. Billions of people voted in favour of the BJP and brought them back to power for the second consecutive time and if Mamata is not able to admit this fact, then how can she bring order within her party?  Charity begins at home. First of all, she has to accept the people’s verdict and then she has to start purging her party. A person’s adamant nature neither brings any good to him nor does a prejudiced mind leads one to truth.

Yours etc.,

TK Nandanan,

Via email

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