By H H Mohrmen
India’s own Grand Old Party (GOP) the Congress in the state of Meghalaya is a house in turmoil. The cracks in the party have come to the fore when the lone MP of the party came out openly in protest against the suspension of the Chief Executive Member of the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) from the membership of the party. Although it is anticipated that this juncture would arrive and people were waiting only for the time when the axe would fall, but the outcome of the suspension was rather unexpected.
The decision of the five Congress MDCs in the KHADC to rally behind their fallen hero has caught the leadership in the GOP by surprise. But the shock which was like a bolt from the blue for the party was the stand taken by the party’s MP from Shillong parliamentary constituency to openly question the decision of the MPCC to ban the legislator cum councilor from the membership of the party. The suspension of P N Syiem was not a surprise and everybody knows the duo share a close relationship and Pala sympathises with Syiem, but his decision to air his views in the press is something that could be a spot of bother for the Congress in the state.
The question is how could an MP of a party which claims to be a disciplined party (where all its members follow the party line especially when the decision has the backing of the All India Congress Committee) challenge the decision of the High Command? This is the something that the Congress needs to worry about because apart from those who now had come openly against the decision of the MPCC which includes the MP, the KHADC CEM and his five Congress colleagues, it is an open secret that there are many more Congress legislators who are against Dr Sangma’s style of leadership.
Even if the twice returned MP has only been a Congressman for less than two decades, yet any ordinary person knows that there is much more than what meets the eye in this entire imbroglio. Although Vincent Pala had only joined the party before contesting the last Lok Sabha elections, he has been close to the Party even while he was in the government service. Pala was initially only a liaison between the Congress party and the coal mine owners in the Jaintia hills and the Congress should give him due credit for bringing the coal mine owners close to the Congress. Few years later, we even had a coal baron and an industrialist from the now East Jaintia hills district as the treasurer of the party state unit.
It was D D Lapang who was responsible for the rise of Vincent H. Pala from a mere engineer in the PWD with a clout over the coal mine owners in Jaintia hills to a Member of Parliament (MP). The event which had changed the fate of a government engineer to a politician was the Umroi by-election. After the unfortunate demise of late E.K. Mawlong who was the MLA from the Umroi Constituency, it was Pala with the help of the mining lobby from Jaintia hills which helped clinch the crucial seat for the Congress then. The victory help the Congress to wrest power from the then regional party led- MPA Government. It cannot be denied that Pala was solely responsible for winning the coveted seat for the Congress.
The Umroi by-election had also created another opportunity for another business tycoon from Jaintia Hills District. Do we still remember the person was caught carrying some money during that same election, and who is representing the constituency in the Meghalaya Assembly now? The Umroi bye-election has really become a turning point for these two businessmen turned politicians. No doubt Congress is a grateful party and Pala was rewarded with the opportunity to contest the Lok Sabha election from the party. It also cannot be denied that Vincent Pala was then Lapang’s blue eyed boy, but he also has his own ambitions and we wouldn’t be surprises because as the saying goes – politics is all about power.
Then the relation was one of bonhomie till the elections to the Meghalaya State Legislative Assembly in 2013 in which there were allegations that the MP in some cases supported candidates who were fielded against the official party candidates. The allegation by the Congress candidate from the Sutnga constituency against the MP was substantiated when only 13 voters from Vincent Pala’s own village voted for the official Congress candidate in the last election to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. And like rubbing salt to the wounds, the independent candidate won.
Then fast forward to the last Lok Sabha election where there was counter allegation that the Chief Minister on the pretext of being busy campaigning for the party candidates from the Tura parliamentary constituency, did not once campaign for the party candidate from the Shillong parliamentary constituency. Though Pala won the election but the cracks in the relationship had started to appear which then led to the present hullabaloo which could have a major impact on the party.
It was the PN Syiem episode which refuses to die down that has hurt the party most and it appears that this imbroglio could also divide the party. The Village Administration bill and the act prohibiting a person from holding two public offices were the bone of contention between the Chief Minister and the CEM KHADC. Syiem has continuously claimed the mess was of government’s own making, but everybody knows that, that is far from true. The VAB issue was of the Autonomous District Council’s own making when even after many decades of existence, the councils have not been able to come up with the an Act to define the role and function of the village durbar till the High Court stepped in. The ruling has compelled the ADCs to come up with their own VAB and one got through while the other is still hanging fire in some central ministry. So can we blame the government for this? Or maybe the KHADC bill is full of loopholes and lacunae which contravenes the existing rules and laws that act as stumbling block for the bill to be enacted.
PN Syiem and his ilk argue that the Act which prohibits a person from holding two public offices is welcome except for the timing. They even suggested the timing when the bill was enacted was like the referee changing the rule while the game is in progress. But the government’s argument is that change has to happen and the timing is irrelevant especially when majority of those affected by the Bill have gracefully resigned except one. Now that Syiem is suspended from party membership in the congress party it remains to be seen if the axe will fall on his membership to the Meghalaya Assembly also.
This column has earlier questioned if the Congress in Meghalaya will go the Assam way in which a section of the party will sever its ties from the Congress and join the BJP. The column had also asked if that is going to be a reality then who is going to be the Himanta Biswas Sarma of the Meghalaya Congress or who is going to engineer that split.
If one is to put oneself in Vincent Pala’s shoes and try to analyse and explore one’s future course of action, one would see a Congress which goes downhill in the entire country. One would them ask oneself if it is worth hitching one’s wagon to a falling star. What is the point of being a Congress MP which will remain in the opposition even post 2019 election? Then if one decides to come to state politics and join the fray in 2018, what is the chance of being a leader of the party in the next state assembly if one remains a Congressman? Or the most important question is, how will the Congress fare in the 2018 elections in the state?
Pala might be wondering what the future holds for him and for the Congress Party in Meghalaya? And if he decides to come to state politics what is the prospect of the party winning the 2018 election? A shrewd politician like Pala would weigh all those pros and cons and then decide his future course of action. So isn’t it true that the latest development in the party’s internal squabbling is more than what meets the eye. Is the current bickering going to split the party… only time will tell.