By B M Lanong
It was as rightly anticipated, the Meghalaya all-party NPP candidate to the Lok Sabha by-poll, Conrad Sangma, winning the traditional Tura seat of his charismatic father Late Purno Sangma, by an all time record of 3,29,383 votes against 1,37,246 polled by his only rival Ms Dikkanchi D Shira, wife of the Chief Minister Dr. Mukul Sangma, sweeping all the 24 seats of Garo Hills region, including the Ampati Assembly seat of the Chief Minister, where he captured 9318 votes, short by 2432 votes only to complete the hundredth percent mark.
Nevertheless, the record set in this election will be hard to erase, a historic solidarity indeed, demonstrated by the melancholic people of Garo Hills, who rallied behind the politically young Conrad to give him and more so to their beloved veteran god-father Purno Sangma, who left them prematurely, in a conjure-up mantra of sorts, an inimitable victory of a life time. On the other hand the landslide victory clearly deprecates and censures the Chief Minister who blatantly vowed to wipe out NPP in 2018 general elections.
Call it a sympathy wave, as congress leaders casually like to put it or call it any wave, Conrad has won hands-down by the mammoth wave-ever, marking the third successive defeat for the Congress in Garo Hills within a span of exactly 2 years from May 2014, when the veteran Purno Sangma last retained his Lok Sabha seat from Tura, defeating Dr Mukul’s prospective son-in-law, followed by the October 2015, District Council elections, where the Congress was ousted from GHADC after holding it by fair or foul means for over three decades, managing a mere 7 seats, whereas the Opposition NPP managed 10 seats, the rest 12 to others.
Come May 2016, Conrad defeated Chief Minister’s wife hook, line and sinker, to complete NPP’s hat trick leaving the Congress to bite the dust, which looks apparently imminent too as BJP’s Nalin Kohli counters that Congress may itself exit in 2018, in a stark reaction to Mukul’s vociferous overtone-against the NPP
At least for now, it can be safely concluded, along with the simultaneous conclusions of the congress Government in Assam, the major player of the Congress in northeast, that the above three successive victories are enough for the regional parties to account this new horizon as a precursor to the general election 2018.
The EVM hacking of 2013 election
In politics, there is no guarantee about anybody’s prospect. So was the ostensible victory of the Congress in the last 2013 general election in Meghalaya, making a clean sweep of 29 seats, which never-ever during its heydays, when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister, Capt. W A Sangma the first Chief Minister of the State, could the Congress reach 29 seats mark. Incredibly indeed, despite its prolonged intra-party rivalry, between Lapang and Sangma warring factions, who shuttled to and fro Shillong-Delhi for almost the entire five years term 2008-2013, the Congress still returned in 2013 and by almost the required majority to form the ministry alone, leaving everybody flabbergasted.
It was the opposition NPP, UDP and others who got wind then of the electronic voting machines (EVM) manipulation and attributed the queer big margin to hacking and pre-fixing of the old worn-out EVMs and petitioned the Election Commission of India to inquire and investigate the matter to its logical conclusion. The Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma who had then and now too, a closer view and authority to at least protect their safe custody, has only now vented his anguish against the possible EVM hacking in Tura Parliamentary election. But no one will buy this story, because it is practically impossible to hack the EVMs in all the 24 constituencies.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) itself was fully aware about the defects in the so called fool-proof EVMs and pioneers like Japan and US have abandoned the use of these EVMs. They even questioned as to how the largest democratic country like India, still relies on such vulnerable machines.
Almost all the recognised political parties of India, assembled in Delhi in 2009 to deliberate on this issue at the national meeting of political parties convened by the ECI, heard the unanimous voice of the leaders who opposed the use of the said EVMs. What followed thereafter was, the ECI came out with the improved variety of EVMs, called the VVPAT (Voters Verifying Paper Audit Trail) machines for which mock–poll was tried at Sohra in 2011. Incredible and incredibly again, the said VVPAT were not used in the 2013 Assembly election in Meghalaya, which gave the Congress the unimaginary 29 seats per-se. The same again went for operation in Tura this time.
It was only after many parties dashed their complaints to the ECI for the non- starter 2009 ECI meet, including continuance of abuse of election conduct in several states, a fairly big Parliamentary delegation of about 20 MPs and officials belonging to the Ministry of Law and Justice visited Shillong immediately after 2013 election, where all political parties from the NE States attended the meeting at Pine Wood Hotel and with one voice demanded scrapping of the use of EVMs. As anticipated nothing was heard of thereafter. It appears as though one likes it or lumps it, status- quo goes on.
All efforts thus, end in a damp squib. Dr. Mukul Sangma may now join in to add pressure.