If the exit of the 12 MLAs from the Congress and their joining the All India Trinamool Congress was a political earthquake of sorts, the action of the remaining five Congress MLAs is nothing short of bizarre. Short of joining the National Peoples’ Party, their fig leaf of an “advocate” for peoples’ causes virtually means they are joining hands with the MDA government which has in its fold the BJP – the Congress’s prime rival. Is this the end of the Congress in Meghalaya? Time will tell. It has been observed that in Meghalaya political ideology has no legs to stand on. Political parties only provide the uniform during elections. So-called national parties especially if they are in power in Delhi are also helpful in terms of funding. Regional parties don’t really have the resources to fund elections hence those contesting from regional parties, nearly always have to be financially robust candidates.
The Congress has been out of power since 2014 and it would be logical to believe that its coffers have run dry. So clinging on the Congress now is more of a baggage. First, the members have to keep defending the Congress leadership pitted as it is against the BJP – a party that is the richest today what with business persons and corporates of all hues funding the Party. And that’s no surprise. Those in business will always invest in a party they can do business with. They have no loyalty to any political party. Even in Meghalaya, those in business will fund the elections of those they foresee have good chances of winning.
Nostalgia does not win elections. Nor does an amorphous future promised by any political party excite the voters. It is the promise of bringing solutions to problems and what concrete steps a political party will adopt to solve those problems is what people are more likely to vote for. Voters generally don’t want to enter an uncertain future or of getting sucked in the past. At this moment the Congress represents a tragic and tired contrast to the triumphant manner it rode to power in 2009. This stasis is hurting the Party which has now become an incubator of disillusionment . No wonder the 5 MLAs want to get out while the going is good. But the question remains as to whether the newly elected Meghalaya Pradesh President and Lok Sabha MP, Vincent Pala concurs with what the 5 have decided which is basically to support the MDA Government from the outside. It will be enlightening to know if Pala is also part of the plot.
