Meghalaya is infamous for its political turncoats. People join one political party even before they have understood what it stands for and whether they agree with the intrinsic ideology of the party they join. Within a few months the same people leave the party they have joined and jump into another one. Are ideologies so fluid that people can join one party some months ago and change thereafter? Isn’t this rank opportunism? But India as such is a durable disorder where democracy is just a fig leaf for oligarchy and feudalism. Political parties themselves too are unsure about what they stand for. A classic case is that of the United Democratic Party (UDP) which is now asserting that it has no hand in any of the scams in the present NPP-led MDA Government. Is this not a deception of the highest order? People who have been partners in crime for four years now want to declare that they carry no burden of that crime! For what is corruption if not a crime against humanity. Corruption is to deprive the citizens of their rightful dues by siphoning off money to the pockets of political and bureaucratic elite. This has happened in Meghalaya for too long a time. And there appears to be no remedy to the congenital ailment.
The UDP has asserted times without number that it would go it alone in 2023 and will have no pre-election truck with anyone. This is typical political ego and rank opportunism. Right now the UDP is telling the NPP that the latter was just a means for them to be in power for five years which is better than being in the Opposition – a cold and dark place with no opportunity whatsoever to make money. The ruling party is where the money is and so the UDP wants to be in that place even in 2023. The UDP believes it will not have to deal with anti-incumbency since the NPP was the leading partner in the coalition. This is nothing short of taking the voters for imbeciles who don’t understand that a coalition government and collective responsibility are synonymous. In fact, the UDP’s political bravado has shot up a few rungs. The Party is firm in its belief of getting a majority on its own. And if it falls short of a few seats then the smaller parties will be its coalition partners. This assertion is far-fetched when we consider that the NPP which has a wider appeal in both Garo Hills and Khasi-Jaintia Hills is also going it alone. The scenario building up is of the NPP securing more seats and might therefore not need the UDP; it will try and cobble up a majority with the smaller parties. Meanwhile the people of Meghalaya wait and watch the drama unfolding.
