Today the 23rd February 2013, a total of 15, 03, 907 eligible voters of Meghalaya will be electing their representatives to the 8th legislature. Of the above number at least half will be young men and women, many of whom will be voting for the first time. They will be the deciding factor because of their enthusiasm to take part in the democratic process. Youth has its own advantage. The young are less cynical about the electoral process. In fact many of them are hopeful of bringing change by voting the right persons. For a State with such a high number of youth, we would have expected more younger candidates in the fray and less of the geriatrics. Unfortunately quite a number of dead wood are contesting because there is nothing else that they know to do. Politics has become a habit.
After the counting of votes on 28th February the party that gets the majority will be forming the 21st government in the State. So far a clear majority for any single party has eluded Meghalaya. This State actually taught India how to play coalition politics when in 1979, BB Lyngdoh and DD Pugh decided to share the chief minister’s seat for a two and a half year term each. The decision as to who would be chief minister first was decided by lot. Till date no single party could form a Government on its own. It is likely that this will be repeated yet again. This happens because of the rift within the regional forces. There is no pre-poll alliance between the two major regional parties – the United Democratic Party (UDP) and the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP). None of the regional parties have been able to put up candidates in all 60 constituencies. Political pragmatism should have dictated that regional party leaders build alliances before the elections rather than scout for coalition partners after the votes are counted. But that pragmatism deludes the UDP and HSPDP.
Meghalaya is sharply divided on communal lines. Issues considered important for the Khasi Jaintia community are not considered so by the Garo people and vice versa. There is no regional party that has a universal appeal across the State. Although the UDP has put up candidates in Garo Hills, it is seen as a Khasi-Jaintia party which does not take on board the Garo aspirations. Hence the UDP is unlikely to get more than a couple of seats or maybe none from Garo Hills. It is also unlikely to score more than 12-15 seats in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. How then can the UDP hope to form a government? Where will the numbers comes from? Naturally this leaves the field clear for the Congress to work out combinations and permutations to form the 21st Government. The change which the youth of Meghalaya aspire to may not be so readily visible after all.