By HH Mohrmen
The internal strife and acrimony in the Congress party especially during the election period does not augur well for the party. The infighting has no doubt boosted the morale of the supporters of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and given the UDP hope to win the ensuing election hands down, or, at least do better than the Congress. The working President of the UDP was recently quoted by the media saying that the party will do much better than the Congress in the coming election and that he hopes the party will be able to form the next government in the state. Judging from media reports which are appearing almost on a daily basis, it of course gives the readers the impression that the working President of the UDP is right and the Congress is going to meet its nemesis on February 28. But what appears in the media can also fool one’s perception and on a closer look turn out to be just like the mirage in the desert. The infighting in the Congress party has already damaged the Congress party’s credibility as a disciplined party where the leaders and supporters always rally behind their leaders, toe the party line and obey the high command’s order.
The pertinent question is; which party is going to meet its doomsday after the 2013 election results are declared, the UDP or the Congress? Unlike the Congress, the UDP till date has not been able to come up with the complete list of candidates for all the 60 assembly constituencies; But the question is why? Why despite the advantage of the infighting in the Congress party, the UDP could not even collect enough candidates to contest in all the 60 assembly constituencies in the state? If the party cannot put together even 60 candidates contesting on the party ticket, can we say that the UDP would benefit from the infighting in the Congress party? The UDP has not been able to capitalize from the state of affairs that the Congress is in; the reason is not with the UDP but the party’s relationship with the people and this is something that the party cannot just wish away. The reason the UDP is not able to rally enough candidates to contest on the party’s ticket in the coming election is because the people have not forgiven or forgotten the UDP for hobnobbing with the Congress in the last few years. By associating with the Congress to form the last MUA government in the state; the UDP has put the regional credentials of the party in jeopardy. Even though the party leadership has time and again justified the party’s stand in aligning with the Congress to form the government than with the other parties in the state, the fact of the matter is that the UDP’s claim to be the only credible regional force in the state is gradually diminishing, since the day the party aligned with the Congress. By joining hands with the Congress to form a government in the state, the UDP has undermined its own claim as the only party which champions the regional interests of the tribal population of the state. No matter how badly the Congress plays in this election and how hard the UDP tries to benefit from the Congress infighting, people will still see the UDP as the party which is ready to align with the Congress immediately after the elections. No sooner are the election results declared, than the UDP would make a beeline for the Congress Bhavan and try to strike a deal with the Congress to form the next government.
At the party leadership level, the UDP’s play with its regional identity has made the party lose two of its most important members — JF Kharshiing and Ardent Basaiawmoit. JFK was the party’s candidate in the last MP election to the Shillong parliamentary constituency who recently joined the Congress. He is one of the very few mass leaders the party had. Ardent M Basaiawmoit left the party and has joined the Hills State Peoples’ Democratic Party (HSPDP). Obviously; UDP is a party in dilemma; the party leadership failed to realize that regionalism is not simply an identity that the party can wear as a badge of honour, but it is the feeling, the hope, the aspiration that people have carried in their heads and in their hearts for so long. Regionalism is the idea that the tribals in the country are unique and they need special protection. This has been indoctrinated in the minds of the people since the Hill State movement and it is still alive and kicking. It is not a slogan that the UDP can just play around with at its convenience. Therefore the party (particularly those in the leadership) have committed a Himalayan blunder by playing with the regional sentiments of the people and it has no one else to blame for this but itself. The party will have to pay a huge price for this blunder.
The reason many aspiring candidates in the ensuing election have chosen to contest as independent candidates rather than on party tickets other than the Congress is because there is no regional party that is really committed to regional principles and tribal ideology. The sign of times, it seems, is not in favour of regional politics in the state. If the UDP which is the major regional party in the state cannot even muster enough candidates to contest on the party ticket in the coming election, then the future of the party and the regional politics in the state is very bleak indeed. Is regionalism then is a dying ideology? Or has the regional party in the state failed the people? Has regionalism become an outdated ideology, or is it just the regional parties that have failed the people? These are important questions and the answers will only emerge after February 28. If the UDP or any regional party is not going to give the Congress a run for its money, then who is the Congress fighting against in the coming election?
The main contender of the Congress in the 2013 election is not the UDP, or any other party but itself. Many of the defected Congress candidates who were denied tickets have jumped into the fray. They have chosen to contest as independent candidates rather than on a UDP ticket or any other party ticket for that matter. Party affiliation in the Congress is like religious conversion; once a Congressman/woman always a Congressman/woman. Even candidates who were not contenders for Congress party ticket chose to enter the fray as independent candidates because they have already anticipated the outcome of the elections. They know that being independent will give them much leeway to negotiate their way after the election. The freedom of being an independent MLA will give them an upper hand over those in smaller parties.
It will not be a surprise if many independent candidates come up successful in the ensuing election because regional parties are not only destroying themselves by contesting against each other, but most importantly the impression that the people have of almost all regional parties is very damaging indeed. People are of the opinion that the parties talk about regional principles only during election but abandon them immediately after the election results are declared.
The UDP’s hope of benefiting from the internal strife in the Congress party is but a false hope. The UDP will only win from constituencies that the party is strong from because it has a strong candidates. The squabbling in the Congress party will not in any way benefit the party. If anyone is to benefit from this infighting it will be the independent candidates and these are candidates belonging to the team B of the Congress party.