More enemies within Congress, a feature of Meghalaya politics in 2015
SHILLONG: Though there was no explicit demand for change of leadership unlike the past, the resentment in the state Congress has reached its crescendo in 2015 as the varied policies adopted by the state government were opposed by KHADC also led by the Congress coalition.
Though there was an indirect attempt on the part of the Opposition to topple the Congress-led government by way of moving a no-confidence motion against the Assembly Speaker A T Mondal, the attempt fizzled out as the Deputy Speaker Sanbor Shullai, who was to chair the session during the no confidence motion in the Assembly resigned from the post. Subsequently, Congress legislator Ronnie Lyngdoh, who was chairing the session, saved the day for the Congress.
The handling of issues related to Village Administration Bill, extension of MUDA by laws beyond the urban areas and the passing of the dual post Bill have created enemies within the Congress, while the Opposition did not have much role as the Congress leader and KHADC chief P N Syiem has turned out to be the biggest critic of MUA-II government led by Mukul Sangma.
Neither the AICC leader V Narayanasamy nor the Congress top leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi could find any solution to the stand-off between the Chief Minister Mukul Sangma and the CEM P N Syiem.
Though Syiem met both Sonia and Rahul in Delhi and apprised them about the ground reality, there was no final word from them as the AICC wanted to wait for the verdict of the High Court related to the dual post Bill during the hearing scheduled for January 13.
What added twist to the politics within the Congress was the open support of Shillong MP Vincent Pala to P N Syiem on the issue of dual post Bill.
For the Chief Minister, after the 2014 Lok Sabha poll debacle in Tura seat , the victory of the principal rival NPP in the GHADC polls on October 12 this year after a series of administrator’s rule and the set back to his choice of candidate, Gabriel Wahlang in the by election to Nongstoin were cause of worries after the successful 2013 Assembly polls, and the Chokpot by election in July.
The AICC had even admitted that wrong selection of candidates had resulted in poor performance of the party candidates in GHADC polls and also in Nongstoin by poll.
Adding to the trouble, early part of the year, eight Congress legislators had aired their grievances to the MPCC chief DD Lapang over ‘ inaccessible” Chief Minister and Cabinet ministers.
Though the Congress under the leadership of PN Syiem captured power in KHADC after dethroning the alliances of the regional parties in 2015, it did not bring any good news to the Chief Minister as instead of smooth functioning and co-ordination between state government and KHADC , it had only brought friction. Moreover, the bitter rivalry between the Chief Minister and the CEM came out in the open with the latter expressing reservation over the style and functioning of the Chief Minister who, according to Syiem, did not consult the party leaders before passing the dual post Bill.
Besides the tussle between the Chief Minister and KHADC CEM, the infighting in the Congress had also compelled the former Congress Minister and MPCC Vice President KK Dkhar to quit the party in January this year after associating with it for more than 25 years.
What irked Khan was that he was served with show cause notice by the party president with an allegation that he was campaigning against the official candidate of the party Prestone Tynsong from Pynursla during 2013 Assembly polls.
Dkhar, who was also a contender for party ticket in Pynursla alleged that the party was being run solely by individuals who care nothing about the party, its policies and ideals.