SHILLONG: If anybody thought that the last word has been heard on the brouhaha over the alleged corruption issue, think again. After getting a virtual rebuff from the political masters, including their own MLAs, the BJP insiders say they are far from over with their crusade against corruption in public institutions. There is a rethink on strategy and instead of making noise, the state BJP wants to prove a point that their stated position of zero tolerance for corruption is not an empty rhetoric.
Licking their wounds inflicted by those ensconced in power, BJP is on a course correction mood.
BJP sources say that although “nobody gave us any quarters” on the corruption issue, “it doesn’t mean the charges of corruption” have lost steam or vanished from public view. We shall pursue the matter with dogged determination,” so that the culture of tolerance for corruption is not allowed to become a way of life.
Political observers say that the organisational leaders of the saffron party, who are relatively new entrants to the rough and tumble of politics, have a few lessons to learn from this grotesque episode of the war of statements. The Shillong Times spoke to some hard-nosed senior politicians (who solicited anonymity) on the genesis and political response to charges of corruption in GHADC and JHADC. Their prognosis of the situation (we have termed them as lessons) are as follows:
Lesson number 1: It ought to have dawned on the party functionaries that corruption is a reality today. In Meghalaya, as in most other parts of the Northeast, there is unstated acceptance of corruption as a way of life. There is no stigma, there is no shame and above all, there is no punishment. Thus, there is a natural allurement for joining politics to rake in the moolah. Corruption is the most “unholy” and “blasphemous” word today. Small wonder then, nobody has publicly extended support to the BJP call for banishing corruption. Look at the way NPP side-tracked the issue. Initially, the party president called names like “tin-pot” leader etc., to dismiss the talk of corruption.
Later, they tacitly admitted that there was a case for the BJP but wanted the issue to come to a common internal forum, instead of going public with the matter. Under relentless pressure, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma later agreed for a state audit instead of a CBI probe. The audit was neither time-bound nor was there any specific thrust. Everybody realised that it was an eye wash aimed at buying time, a familiar ploy that wily politicians have applied time and again.
Lesson number 2: Unlike the rest of the world, in Meghalaya parties have no or little control over their elected representatives. After the elections are over, the elected representatives are their own masters. This is the political culture. So far no party has succeeded in reining them in. If BJP thought their MLAs would fall for Narendra Modi’s penchant for a corruption-free system, they are living in a fool’s paradise. The MLAs are on a solo trip. The BJP mask is incidental. They know which side of the bread is buttered. The state BJP is too naive if it did not get the games the MLAs play. Gone are the days when BJP (during Vajpayee’s era) Meghalaya BJP MLAs would sacrifice their comfort on a principled stand. Remember, how EK Mawlong ministry came tumbling down after two BJP ministers (TH Rangad and AL Hek) resigned over corruption charges on construction of the multi-crore Kolkata Meghalaya House project?
Lesson number 3: The party must stand on its own feet rather than sustain strength from elsewhere. NPP was spot on when it told BJP to first learn to win elections. There was an unmistakable message: The BJP edifice in Meghalaya has not got endorsement from the voters. To rely on stimulation from the high command is to fight a proxy war. BJP must become a party of the people of Meghalaya first.
Lesson number 4: How to make the party popular? The suggestion has come from one of its front line leaders, and a former minister JA Lyngdoh: Take up populist issues like ILP, border issues, oppose Modi’s dream project of bringing railhead to every state capital. The advice is also not to rake up corruption which is a non-issue here.
The 64 million dollar question is: Can the state BJP go against the core policies of the party or is BJP prepared to learn its lesson or will it ever learn?