From CK Nayak
New Delhi: Normally ignored in the political circles of Delhi the Hill State of Meghalaya had created history when both its Lok Sabha MPs – Vincent H Pala and Agatha Sangma – were made union ministers in the Congress-led UPA Government in its second incarnation nearly four years ago.
But from the high of 2009, the State witnessed a fall when both of them were dropped in last month’s reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers.
Agatha was apprehensive since Purno contested in vain against UPA’s official candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential polls and filed a case against him after he was defeated. But for Pala it was literally a bolt from the blue since only during the last-to-last reshuffle he was given additional portfolio of Minority Affairs.
Pala was on official tour to his constituency Shillong when he got a call just a day before the reshuffle from the PMO intimating him the bad news. He flew back to met Sonia and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and put his papers ostensibly to be drafted in the party.
Pala is most likely be inducted in the AICC during the soon to be reshuffle but that was probably an alibi to ease him out of the ministry. Logically he could have remained in the ministry and continue with the party work especially when the State is slated for Assembly polls in less than three months.
Some observers believe that Pala was dropped because of Agatha to send a message that she has not been victimized as a tribal. Purno has already played his tribal card in the elections which could spill over to the Assembly polls too.
Incidentally, Pala was inducted in the ministry on the ground that Agatha was also taken in. Congress leaders from Meghalaya had then argued that NCP, to which she belongs, was the principal opposition party for Congress in the State, especially in Garo Hills.
Having Agatha as a minister at the Centre would have created an awkward situation for the ruling party in the State which had also snatched the Government from the NCP in 2009. They had pointed out that unlike in the Centre the NCP is not an ally in Meghalaya, rather it is the main opposition party.
It is unlikely that Congress party in Meghalaya would not have been consulted before dropping Pala from the ministry. But both Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma and MPCC President DD Lapang had denied any knowledge of his ouster beforehand saying that it was ‘news’ for both.
It is also said that NCP President Sharad Pawar made it a condition to drop Pala since Agatha was out. Despite Purno taking a defiant stand that Agatha as the youngest ever Union Minister was not a target although her continuance in the ministry became untenable in the wake of Purno contesting the Presidential polls.
Several attempts from different quarters to drop her earlier from the ministry were thwarted on many occasions. NCP had also no alternative since she was the only Lok Sabha MP from outside Maharashtra and fitted into all special categories – she was a young tribal belonging to a minority community hailing from the Northeast.
It is a fact that all other Congress-ruled Northeastern states – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur – had protested since one state should not get both ministries while they barring Assam were left out.
Assam with a massive repeat performance in the Assembly polls, and many more MPs, led from the front in opposing this absurdity.
Many top ranking Congress leaders like Mukut Mithi from Arunachal Pradesh, Bhubaneswar Kalita from Assam and Rishang Keishing from Manipur were staking their claims to the ministry.
In fact all these states had also protested when PR Kyndiah was awarded a Cabinet berth (Tribal Affairs) in the UPA-I Government. But at that time Lapang had backed Kyndiah, both as then Meghalaya Chief Minister and NECCC Chairman, much to the chagrin of other top leaders from the region.
It is a different matter that Kyndiah had tried in futile to dethrone Lapang many times to become the Chief Minister himself.
But irrespective of history it still remains a mystery why Pala, who had quickly spread his wings in the complex Congress politics of Delhi, was dropped despite being given additional portfolio in the recent past.