BY H.H. Mohrmen
This column maintained that the elections to the two Autonomous District Councils are like a semifinal match which prepares the teams for the final that is the general election 2014. And the outcome of these elections will be a precursor of the trend that will continue to the general election. If the results are taken in totality, the indications are that the people have not given a clear mandate to any party hence the parties needs to pull up their socks and train hard for the Lok Sabha elections.
The verdict is a bad omen for the Congress because in spite of the fact that the party won a maximum numbers of seats in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, it ran short of the required numbers to form the next Executive Committee in this Council. The mandate was clear with regards to the independent candidates. People under the jurisdiction of the KHADC realized that the independent MDCs were the main cause of the instability in the Council and sending independent candidates only encourages horse-trading hence they have eschewed the idea. The Congress will have to sit in the opposition for five years unless they have some other trick under their sleeve to dislodge the next EC in few months time.
Is the verdict a punishment for the Congress? The former Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the KHADC guessed it right when he said that the defeat was due to the Inner Permit Issue (ILP) issue. This is one factor that led to the defeat of the party. But the other factors that led to the drubbing of the Congress are the many scams in the state which the Congress party has tried to brush under the carpet. It is ironic that in the Lower Primary School teachers’ appointment scam, the government is ready to terminate the appointment of the ‘tainted’ teachers but the it pretends as if the scams happened on their own and only the teachers are responsible for the wrongdoing. Could the scam have happened without the intervention of the Education minister then? So why is the person responsible for the scam spared? The minister in charge of Education when this scam happened (even if she was not at all involved in the scam) at least owes moral responsibility for what happened in the Department under her watch and should resign now that the teachers are terminated. Dr Ampareen Lyngdoh should set an example and resign immediately as a minister in the MUA – 2 because the Education Department suffered this ignominy during her time. The Department has played with the lives of hundreds of aspirants. If Dr Lyngdoh refused to voluntarily resign then it is the duty of the Chief Minister to remove her from the cabinet because one cannot punish the teachers without punishing those who are morally responsible for what had happened and those who are directly involved in the act. Terminating the service of the teacher is like cutting a toe when the ulcer is on the thigh. It is the height of injustice if the MUA 2 decides to punish the teachers only and spares the others who were involved in the scam.
If Dr Sangma refuses to do anything then it only confirms the public suspicion that MUA is protecting its own even if they are involved in big scams. People in Jaintia hills questioned why the police are quick to act against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate MS Phyllut for his alleged role in destroying the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) while they have taken a long time to press charge against MB Rymbai in spite of the fact that the police had already taken the statements of the victims and has collected all the evidence from the JHADC office? The Congress in the Centre and in the states is sending conflicting signals to the electorate before the general election and this is not good for the party. While Rahul Gandhi is speaking about strong anti graft laws, the Congress in the state is set to accommodate “the tainted” Madonbai Rymbai as the EM of the JHADC. But what is more important is the kind of messages that it send to the young people. The leaders in the Congress may not realize it but keeping people who are allegedly involved in the scams, in power not only shows the party in bad light but it also signals that the party is suffering a drought of leaders who are free from any allegation. This too will affect the Party’s prospects in the general election. But the greatest effect of these irresponsible acts will be on the young minds who are already frustrated with the system which encourages injustice and punishes only the poor and weaker sections of society whereas the rich and the powerful go scot free. And when these frustrated youths join the militant outfits the government and the police call them misguided youths and hound them like dogs. The question is who has misguided them in the first place and what has compelled them to take drastic step if it is not because of bad governance and injustice that is prevailing in the society.
In the election to the KHADC the maximum numbers of MDCs elected belong to the different regional parties. The leaders of these regional parties have already read the signs and realize that people are fed up with the Congress. The voters under the KHADC wanted to see change in the way the Council is manage and controlled and bestowed the responsibility on the regional parties. But the most important message from the verdict of February 2014 is that the regional parties also realize that they can win the Shillong Parliamentary seat if they can only agree on a consensus candidate.
In the recently concluded elections to the Jaintia Hills District Council the Congress did not do so badly as the Party managed to win 14 seats – one short of a simple majority. But the victory of 9 independent candidates is not going to be favorable for the smooth running of the ADC which has seen change of ECs at a regular interval due to power struggle and horse trading. One cannot simply conclude that the election of maximum numbers of independent is because the people are disenchanted with political parties hence they voted for independent candidates. The reason, in many cases is money and muscle power. These are major factors which decided the outcome of the election. Majority of the candidates who won in the election were supported by one or many big villages and in many cases the dorbar decided to support the candidate. What this means, therefore, is that there is no room for dissent. Those who opposed the dorbar shnong’s candidate would not be allowed to vote at all hence the candidate that the dorbar shnong supported won irrespective of party affiliations. It is also true that most of the independent MDCs belong to what the people in Jaintia Hills call the B team of the Congress.
There is both good and bad omen for both the Congress and the regional parties from the verdict of the people in the 2014 election to the two Autonomous District Councils. If the results of the elections in both the Councils are taken into consideration, both side are evenly poised for the showdown in the general election. But if the regional parties cannot agree on a consensus candidate then it will be advantage Congress and the Party will laugh its way to the Lok Sabha.