By HH Mohrmen
The country’s grand old party – the Congress – in the state is again showing its double standards in dealing with members from its own fold (who are involved in anti-party activities) especially those who are holding high positions. The Party has different yardsticks when it comes to dealing with those engaged in the back-stabbing politics. Of course politics is not a game of hide and seek or of morality. It involves members trying to outdo each other every day, yet one fails to understand the way the game is officiated because while one was given a harsh punishment, the others are given a long rope to play with. If this double standard is not going to hurt the sentiments of the Jowai unit of the party and demoralise the very strong and vibrant Congress in the state, then nothing else will.
Recently the Jowai unit of the Congress party made a strong complaint to the MPCC against a party man who is also holding the post of a cabinet minister in charge of power etc., in the government of Meghalaya. The complaint was that the Minister Sniawbhalang Dhar is canvassing against the party’s candidate who is also a sitting MLA and holding the post of Deputy Chief Minister in the state government. Adding salt to the wounds of the party cadres of Jowai unit, the minister did not deny the fact that the candidate who is a contender to the party ticket from prestigious Jowai constituency is none other than his own brother in law and (vaguely referring to his elder brother’s candidature from Umroi constituency in the last election when the incumbent MLA was denied a party ticket) he also questioned if the Party has always given the ticket to the sitting MLA?
It’s very natural that the supporters of the Congress leader and Jowai MLA for twenty five years should take exception to the activities of Sniawbhalang Dhar and it is also expected that Dr Laloo’s supporters should feel insulted considering the fact Laloo was the first candidate to win on a Congress ticket in the whole of Jaintia hills more than three decades ago. And when Sniawbhalang himself made this comment and asked this sneaky question, does the party leadership need any more evidence than the statement made to the media and hence in the public domain?
On the other hand, look at the way the party treated PN Syiem, another Congress renegade. He was outrightly suspended because he dared to question Dr Mukul Sangma, whereas in the case of Sniawbhalang, the Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee and the National Secretary in charge of the party were found passing the buck among themselves when asked about what action is contemplated against Dhar. The Congress party cadres in Jowai and the state have the right to ask why no one is willing to call a spade a spade and punish Sniawbhalang Dhar? P N Syiem has no other option but to quit the party before the elections, but the party is yet to take action against Sniawbhalang who is involved in anti-party activities against none other than the Deputy Chief Minister who is second only to the Chief Minister in the rank and file of the party.
What the MPCC and the INC do not know is that Sniawbhalang and his group are buying time and will anyway leave the party (which they consider a sinking ship) just before the elections. It is known fact that NPP is waiting with open arms to welcome Sniawbhalang and his party to its fold and when this happens it will not only demoralise the Jowai unit but the Congress cadres in state as a whole. And most importantly this act of omission and delaying tactics of not taking the right move at the right time by the Congress leadership will have a huge impact on the prospects of the Congress winning the next election.
When Sniawbhalang and his followers finally decide to join another party, the impression given will be that while Conrad Sangma and Sniawbhalang Dhar are playing their game, Dr Mukul Sangma is a willing spectator and for the first time ever Dr Mukul would stand outwitted. In the battle of the mind Conrad seems to be winning and when this happens, Dr Sangma will be left high and dry because in round one of the battle to the 2018 election, he has lost to his own arch enemy.
Hypothetically, the other question that the party should ask is also whether Sniawbhalang’s brother in law who is a contender for the party ticket from Jowai, will withdraw his candidature if the party ticket is re-allotted to Dr R C Laloo? Since Sniawbhalang is a diehard Congressman one expects him to rein in his brother-in-law and to ask him to withdraw his candidature and support R.C. Laloo in the event that the party ticket is allotted to him. But is that going to happen? The truth is there is no looking back for Sniawbhalang’s brother in law even if the party ticket is not allotted to him. The Class XII passed contender who is not known to the people of the Constituency until Sniawbhalang Dhar decided that he would contest from Jowai is expected to go ahead and contest the 2018 election anyway.
Again in case Dr Mukul Sangma and his party colleague do not realise it yet, he too will contest from the NPP ticket and what does this tell us about NPP? It exposes the real identity of the party, because NPP is not only team B of the BJP but it is also not different from other parties. The fact is that this will expose the real image of the NPP a case where only the bottle is changed but the wine is all the same. When the Congress, the UDP and the BJP’s candidate to the prestigious Jowai constituency are educated and experienced in politics, the only thing that the NPP candidate has is a brother in law with a big bank balance.
So why is the Congress party treating Sniawbhalang differently? Is it because of his monetary influence and the party is expecting a generous donation from him before the election? People know that he has a big bank balance and everybody would like to see how much his wealth has increased since the last time he had made it public before the election. Or is the Congress worried about the number of seats that he is expected to bring with him after the 2018 elections because till now the Dhar’s dynasty already has four candidates in the fray. The family also has many more candidates that they support in the Khasi and Jaintia hills region of the state, so it is going to be another battle of wits for Dr Sangma and Conrad Sangma and the Dhars are willing players.
The 2018 election is unlike other elections for the Congress because the party will not only have to fight against the other political parties in the fray, but the most challenging tussle is within the party. In the case of Jowai the party is in a catch 22 situation. If the party ticket is given to the new candidate then the Congress will break into pieces and even if the party ticket is allotted to Dr Laloo and not Dhar’s brother in law, the Congress supporters will still be demoralised because the party has not taken action against Sniawbhalang for his anti- party activities. The Jowai unit of the Congress and everybody in the constituency knows that his relative will anyway contest against the Party candidate from Jowai which will have an impact on Laloo’s chance of retaining the seat for the Congress.
If the intra-party conflict continues then chances are that Jowai will vote differently and the Congress will lose Jowai.