Wednesday, January 22, 2025
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BJP, a partner but a liability

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By Albert Thyrniang

The BJP unit in Meghalaya was in a confused state of mind. The party was not sure whether or not to put up candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha Election for Shillong and Tura Seats. The saffron party finally decided to field candidates for both seats at the eleventh hour. The CAB fiasco had put the leadership in a dilemma. Prior to the announcement the deliberations might be summarised this way. If the party contests on its own it stands little chance of winning. If it supports the MDA common candidates the party is going to become a liability for the UDP’s candidate, Jemino Mawthoh and NPP’s ticket holder, Agatha Sangma. The Congress would pound on the MDA partners and points to the UDP (and other regional parties) and the BJP in Khasi Hills and NPP and the BJP in Garo Hills. Neither the UDP nor the NPP want the support of the BJP. Strange that even though the BJP is a partner of the MDA it is a pariah. The reason is because of its communal tag and the push for CAB by the ‘Hindutva’ party.

Even now when the BJP has nominated candidates for the two seats in the state the accusation of a cosy relationship between Amit Shah’s party and state’s regional parties continues to fly around. The link is undeniable because the BJP is part of the seven party coalition of the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government. If there is no relationship then the BJP should not be in the coalition. As simple as that! The regional parties in Khasi Hills try to distance themselves from the anti-minority party but they can’t as long as that party is in the government. Foreseeing the burden on them in view of the Lok Sabha poll, the UDP and company recently demanded removal of the BJP from the government but they did it only unofficially. The BJP and regional parties are still partners. Sensing the damage the BJP would cost on his winning prospect, the UDP candidate, Jemino Mawthoh denied his party’s alignment with the BJP. However, he will have to do so over and over again because the Opposition will harp on it in every election speech. Plus the BJP’s candidate, Sanbor Shullai candidly informed that the regional parties hate the BJP before election but they embrace it after election.

Irrespective of the BJP’s decision to contest the Tura seat, the BJP-NPP nexus is more open and direct. The relationship goes back to the PA Sangma, the founder of NPP. The BJP supported his candidature for presidential election in 2012. From then on the NPP have always been with the BJP. The former Lok Sabha Speaker extended his support to the NDA while an MP. After the death of his father, Conrad Sangma too, when elected to parliament, joined the NDA on the plea that it was the BJP who wanted a tribal president. This is not true because the BJP supported a tribal in presidential election only when in Opposition. They did the same to GG Swell in 1992. They knew that both GG Swell and PA Sangma would lose. If the BJP wanted to have a tribal in Rashtrapati Bhavan why did they not sponsor a tribal candidate in 2002 and in 2017 when in power? A tribal candidate would have certainly made history. The BJP can never think of a tribal occupying the highest post in the country because it is not pro tribal and pro minorities.

Back to the point! Now that the BJP has declared its nominees for the two constituencies what will be the effects? Who will be affected? Will the BJP candidates eat into the Congress or regional candidates’ votes? In Shillong, the Congress might stand to lose while in Tura the NPP might be the loser. Sources say that in the absence of BJP, the non-tribal votes could go for the grand old party. In Tura on the other hand, the non-tribals could have rallied behind NPP.

A word about the merit of the candidates! The Shillong Congress candidate, Vincent Pala is a two time MP having represented the prestigious constituency in 2009 and 2014. Whether the engineer turned politician retains his seat remains to be seen. And whether the former union Minister of State for Water Resources from East Jaintia Hills can still beat anti-incumbency is something we will know on May 23. The coal baron is still a formidable candidate. He is a well-known face all over Khasi and Jaintia Hills and in fact the whole state. He has influence over majority of the MLAs and MDCs including politicians of NPP, UDP and other regional parties. He is close even to the Chief Minister of the State, Conrad Sangma. Will the MLAs and MDCs of the ruling party work for him, clandestinely?

The opponent of the rich 51 year old Congress strong man who holds at least 27 bank accounts with assets worth close to 50 crore is UDP’s Jemino Mawthoh. The consensus candidate of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance chosen after almost a year of thinking is a former legislator from Nongthymmai constituency in 2013 when he sensationally defeated Congress heavyweight and the then Speaker of Meghalaya Assembly, Charles Pyngrope. The learned  professor, however, narrowly lost to the same rival last year. The ‘David’ with assets of about 62 Lakh will have an uphill task against the veteran Congressman in spite of being the common candidate of the NPP, UDP, HSPDP, PDF and NCP. He has made known the absence of any outstanding contribution of the sitting MP. On his part Pala has observed that regional parties can’t contribute significantly at the national level. The other issue in Shillong will be coal mining.

The Tura fight is more interesting and unpredictable. The main contestants are two bitter rivals. Agatha Sangma is up against the two-time Chief Minister of the state. Though he never applied for party ticket yet he is considered the best bet to take the fight to the NPP bastion. Expectedly, the main plank for the veteran is collusion of the NPP with the BJP. For him NPP and the BJP are the head and tail of the same coin. He has alleged that the BJP controls the MDA government and calls for a united fight against the BJP and NPP. He will also aggressively point to the persistent determination of the BJP to pass CAB in Rajya Sabha and the ‘pretended’ effort of Conrad Sangma and his government to stop the Bill. Will it cut ice among the electorate?

Agatha Sangma too has every reason to be optimistic. She won the seat in 2008 as NCP candidate riding on the popularity of her father, late PA Sangma. Though her dad is no more she will invoke his name every time and everywhere. The Tura voters’ memory of their beloved leader is still fresh in their minds. Being the daughter of the once unmatched Garo strongman, the battle of the former youngest Minister of State in the UPA II is made that much easier. She is also at an advantageous position as she has her brother, Conrad Sangma who is the Chief Minister of the state. He is capable of taking on the might of Mukul Sangma. He is going to vehemently let the electorate know of his ‘heroic’ role in making sure that CAB was forced to lapse. He has combatively accused his predecessor of incurring huge financial burden on the State by his ill-conceived flagship missions including the Agar and Bamboo mission in the state.

Who will emerge victorious on May 23? Will we see an upset in the state capital or will status quo prevail? Will the NPP keep the Tura seat as its own or will Mukul Sangma wrest it from the PA Sangma family? Which of the two candidates will the BJP play spoilsport for?  Unfortunately we have to patiently wait for the D-day.

 

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