From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The Ranikor by-poll result will prove whether the NPP will emerge as the single largest party.
The Congress has the strength of 20 MLAs in the House of 58, while the NPP has 19 members after South Tura legislator Agatha Sangma quit the seat to pave way for her brother and Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to contest the by-poll.
The strength of the Congress was reduced to 20 after Congress MLA from Ranikor MM Danggo resigned from the Assembly and the party.
The Ranikor by- election has become important for more than one reason.
Though the main Opposition Congress has put up a candidate, the fight was between NPP and its main coalition partner UDP.
Congress and its leader Mukul Sangma were determined that the NPP nominee Danggo, who was a minister several times under its regime must be defeated.
Reasonably so since Danggo was a former Speaker and minister both under DD Lapang and Mukul Sangma.
The party was annoyed as Danggo, who won on a Congress ticket, defected to NPP after the party could not come back to power.
Danggo’s win will rob the Congress of its single largest party position, a tag which it wants to flaunt to stake claim to form the government any time the MDA coalition is in trouble.
With almost a sure win in South Tura, the leading coalition NPP and Congress will be on the same strength in the Assembly.
But apart from “teaching the turncoat” a lesson, Congress is also afraid that Danggo’s win and subsequent suitable rehabilitation by the NPP might trigger further defection from the Congress.
While a few Garo MLAs are in touch with the ruling Sangma family, Khasi -Jaintia legislators are in touch with former Congress leader Prestone Tynsong, who became the deputy chief minister.
The party’s moral is at all-time low in the Northeastern region since it has lost almost everywhere barring Mizoram.
Congress also lost confidence in the AICC since the party general secretary C P Joshi was not replaced when there was such a demand in the past.
It was only recently that Luizinho Faleiro was appointed to look after Meghalaya and other Northeastern states.
The Ranikor by-poll has created trouble within the ruling coalition, even though the chief minister reiterated that the result will not affect the stability of the government.
Though the strength of the alliance in the House will remain intact, it will sow the seeds of distrust among the ruling regional parties.
CLP leader Mukul Sangma, a veteran of many political games, will take this as an opportunity first to take on the government and then destabilise it at the opportune moment.
The BJP led NDA’s graph has already been dented in some parts of the country. The party has an uphill task in the next rounds of polls in Rajasthan, Mizoram and even the general elections in 2019.
Initially, NPP had no problem regarding the Ranikor by- poll since Danggo was a five time winner, who projected that the creation of separate subdivision was due to his efforts.
It was also thought that the anti-Danggo votes will be shared by both Congress and UDP.
Hoping that the Congress candidate will emerge as a dark horse, Mukul’s smart move to put up a Garo candidate has dampened that calculation.