We are indeed privileged that our Constitution has granted us freedom in the political domain so that people can organise themselves and form political parties where they can further seek people’s mandate and trust by propagating certain issues, ideologies which they anticipate that people will comply and agree with. They have positioned themselves as the fittest ones to become rulers of the masses. There are numerous such parties that were formed in the past but disappeared after few years without achieving anything while others were merged with bigger parties. Some of these parties have emerged out of genuine needs but due to limited support base and lack of resources these outfits had to be disbanded or dissolved prematurely. Another reason perhaps is that the propaganda around which the party was started was not universally accepted. Hence a gap was created between people’s aspirations and the ability of the party to deliver. This gap is the gaping loophole that divides the people and the party.
When a political party is floated there should be some specialty in it. This specialty is a factor and flavour that will affect and motivate the people extensively. Further, this specialty is a combination of integrity, personality, intellectual capacity, governance capacity relevant with this modern globalised generation and by group of individuals who have strong determination and the will to deliver and to affect changes. Otherwise, if it is just another party orchestrated by the same old folks and their by-products, then history will only repeat itself and the status quo will prevail. It is just the same old wine in new wineskins to fool the people. In fact new wine in new wineskins is highly preferable but new wine in old bottle is to some extent better than old wine in a new bottle.
A political party in the Indian context believes in certain ideologies and it is on the basis of such ideologies that they spread the message and reach out to the masses. Let us not forget that governance is only one aspect of it. But more than that is the ideology that they intend to inculcate and enforce by the use of power if needed in order to exercise their dominion on a particular region or country. The living example for this is the Communist Party of China which rules over and dominates the entire country by wiping out permanently the Nationalist Party leaving no room for any second option. The the same is also happening in the socialist states.
But in a state like Meghalaya with population of only above thirty lakhs, do we really need a new political party or do we need new wine? By disintegrating ourselves into numerous political identities in this nature, we confirm to others that we are not fit to govern ourselves. It may be true that all parties may share the election cake especially in Khasi & Jaintia HiIls but what is the point when no single party can secure the required majority. Whereas one thing is clear and that is that whichever party secures the maximum numbers of seats from Garo Hills, will form the next government with its prominent figure as the next Chief Minister of the State. But the greater challenge ahead is how to tackle the onslaught of the formidable political party with sectarian political ideology. This is a very serious issue that we should be wary of and prepare ourselves and the future generations as well.
A small state and community like ours needs to understand that the scattered fragments can also be consolidated to form and create the power of a nuclear bomb. If that situation arises, the idea of creating an alliance will figure. But who will be the consensus leader? Even if there is one, whom will he satisfy? Can he sacrifice his own children? Or take care of his adopted children? Because so far governance in the present context is purely to attain power in order to distribute schemes. When the MLA or Minister cannot provide the lion’s share to a particular beneficiary or supporter, then ugly things will surface as happened to Paul Lyngdoh MLA of Shillong West Constituentcy who was betrayed by his own friends.
We are living in the era where people in the society are more concerned about their personal welfare rather than the collective well-being. If this is the case then where is collective order and collective progress? This has been further aggravated by the ignorance of the majority of the masses about political democracy and the threat against it. They are well versed about MLA Schemes and MNREGS; their concept of development is limited only to the availability of roads, community halls and village playgrounds. This is the reason perhaps that those who aspire to contest elections are also buying JCBs as part of the electioneering process.
A new trend is now encroaching into our society where politics and family ties are the criteria for campaigning. In a democratic set up, family or biological lineage should not be the agenda and reason to draw voter’s attention. But it is sad that in our state these things are happening where political aspiration and effort is basically centered on family history and ties. On the other hand, the BJP is fair enough in this aspect when it tries to discard family ties and relationship to some extent and encourages cadre-based politics.
If the general masses continue to remain ignorant and their representatives are also happy with this state of affairs, then sooner or later this society will sink under its own weight. What sort of future are we building for our children and the children of our rural folks? Our educational system is producing liabilities rather than assets for the society. Our valuable resources are useless and meaningless in the absence of any strategic and futuristic oriented leadership. It seems that there is a dearth of statesmanship type of leadership. We need people who can muster and stirrup productivity and creativity from each and everyone rather than making themselves the centre of attraction through various political gimmicks.
It is high time for the people to take a call and deal firmly and with a strong hand against all forms of dishonesty, corruption and hypocrisy that has penetrated into our political system. We need people with global mindsets and positive attitudes, people who dare to inject change for the betterment of all in the long run even if it has to abolish MLA schemes from the political system which is a bone of contention many a times, in many cases and which has contributed very little to the overall development of the society. There is a need for a paradigm shift or else we will face more and more trouble in the years to come.