By Patricia Mukhim
The dilemma before the voter in Meghalaya is who to vote if not the Congress. True, in some constituencies people have voted for various reasons such as the personal charisma of the candidate and his/her ability to deliver at the constituency level. And increasingly people seem to vote those who can address their personal financial problems, attend to their health care needs and to get their children admitted to schools and colleges of their choice. Collective needs such as efficient water supply, better roads and other agenda do not seem to matter. Above all, candidates have stopped speaking of what is needed for Meghalaya as a State. In fact the trend today is that those who cannot come down to the level of the grass-roots, BPL voter have had to bite the dust.
Actually fighting elections in Meghalaya is entering into a different league. A candidate is not permitted any privacy. During the campaign period many candidates were dog tired and wanted to catch a wink after they came home from a hard day’s campaign. But they said that was not possible because there are well wishers and friends who call on them at all hours. Many have been getting just about 3-4 hours of sleep daily. Candidates have lost weight on account of having to climb stairs and reach the unreached villages. Apart from that they have also to keep plenty of money handy because when they visit very poor homes they feel inclined to help the family although how that one-off patronage can help anyone is a big question.
There are quite a few surprises though. Dr RC Laloo is one of those eccentric politicians. He does not fall among the conventional lot of politicians in the way he behaves with his constituents. He does not believe in pampering anyone. Since he became a minister in 2009 he has lived in the government bungalow. But Laloo gives very clear instructions that no one should be allowed inside that bungalow. He probably has a checklist of people who can and cannot be admitted inside. If RC Laloo was a Khasi politician he would have lost the elections several times over because of his “unapproachable” nature. But the Jaintias seem to be proud of him and have elected him repeatedly. So the norm that if a candidate is unapproachable he cannot win elections does not seem to apply in the case of Laloo. He probably has a magic bullet that he uses during election. His compatriots in the Congress ought to ask him to share the secret. Again, if Laloo was a Khasi he would have been called , “uba sarong – kyreit” (arrogant).
Indeed in the Khasi Hills things work differently. The supporters of a candidate are happy if they can walk in and out of his/her kitchen or laze around in the sitting room and chat and gossip. This is a very “Khasi” thing. The kitchen is the social space. If they sense that a candidate is not comfortable about their intrusion they will vote a rival candidate. And in constituencies where the large majority of people are in the category of the rough and burly types, well behaved gentleman and ladies don’t stand a chance. There is certain innate desire to be able to rub shoulders with the candidate who they also see as some sort of idol. When a candidate comes visiting they feel honoured to be able to provide a cup of tea to him/her. But not all candidates have the natural inclination or the graciousness to accept the hospitality of the poor.
Coming to the results, the Congress win this time is not surprising at all for those who have been following the politics of this State. The United Democratic Party (UDP) has lost its moorings as the vanguard of regional aspirations. There is very little that separates the Congress from the UDP ideologically. If there were sharp differences the two parties would not have been able to work together for four years (2009-2013) without getting into loggerheads. Even the HSPDP is not ideologically rigid. Its selective appeal is its clamour for a Khasi-Jaintia state which to my mind is a mirage. Unfortunately some people still seem to buy into this. That people can believe that a party which cannot even set up 20 candidates would actually be able to secure a separate state for them just shows the level of political illiteracy in the State. Of course the Clean Election Campaign of Ardent Basaiawmoit might have helped him personally but his other colleagues did not make use of that plank as much as Ardent did. Of the 4 candidates of the HSPDP, 3 are from West Khasi Hills which makes it a local party, not a regional one.
What is of interest is the UDP’s performance this time. A day before the results could be announced, Deputy Chief Minister, BM Lanong superciliously stated that the UDP would form the next Government and that the party would decide which Independent candidates it would ‘choose’ to work with. Today the situation is completely reversed. The Independents as a group (14) have more MLAs than the UDP (8). Lanong’s bravado and his anti-Congress stance despite still being part of the MUA-2 has exposed the UDP’s double standards. There is a point beyond which people will not tolerate hypocrisy. For the UDP this is certainly a wake up call. Also here is a party whose President – Dr Donkupar Roy is neither visible nor audible. It looks like the UDP is being run by its two working presidents BM Lanong and Paul Lyngdoh. Clearly there is a leadership vacuum in the UDP which needs to be resolved. If Dr Donkupar Roy is not leading the Party from the front then he should hand over the mantle to one of the two working presidents. Political leadership is a tough call. It requires political sagacity, the ability to network, the acumen to handle the media and a degree of modesty as opposed to the “I know it all” attitude. Above all, leaders mind their language and are not vengeful. They exercise restraint over themselves and their followers. Nothing bugs the people more than political arrogance.
That the Independents would make a big win was predicted. With 122 in the fray which works out to an average of 2 candidates per constituency it was obvious that a good number would return. Most of the Independents who won were those who were not given a Congress ticket. For them to return to the Congress is a natural trajectory, as natural as breathing. With 29 MLAs the Congress is all set to form a Government with the help of the Independent candidates. It remains to be seen now whether a clear leadership emerges within the Congress party itself or if it will be wracked by infighting. Will Dr Mukul Sangma be the undisputed chief ministerial candidate or will there be challengers within the Congress for this post? The Congress party’s biggest enemy is the Congress itself. It would be difficult to deny that the vote this time was also a vote for the programmes and policies initiated by Dr Mukul Sangma. Although the UDP was a key partner it had not initiated any programme or policy in key sectors like Education, Health and Livelihoods. It was Dr Sangma who crafted the Integrated Basin Development and Livelihoods Programme and it cannot be denied that the vote for Congress this time is also to give this programme a chance to work in the next five years.
What is a loss to the legislature is the defeat of Conrad Sangma a dynamic young leader who knew his political onions well but who became the victim of his father’s game of Harakiri. It is sad that a politician of Mr PA Sangma’s stature who was once a national leader should now dip to such a low that his party – the National People’s Party (NPP) could manage to win only two seats. This is a body blow to PA Sangma personally and it has queered the pitch for his children who he dragged into politics. They were all doing well as entrepreneurs until they left their calling for silly politics. Now neither the business nor the politics is working. Every television channel in this country now wants to know what PA Sangma’s political future is. I doubt if Sangma himself knows exactly where he is headed for at this juncture. Looks like a tragic denouement to a once bright star of Meghalaya’s political firmament.