By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 6: Experts who follow Meghalaya politics closely said the “compromised” and “divided” Opposition will spell more trouble for the state unless someone else is elected as the Leader of Opposition.
The observation stemmed from Leader of Opposition Ronnie V Lyngdoh’s contrasting positions in the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and the state government. He supports the NPP-led KHADC and opposes the same NPP-led MDA 2.0 government.
“If the Opposition is compromised, the ruling party does anything that it wants. There will be no accountability and they will not be responsive to the people as nobody will raise their issues. They (ruling party) will have a smooth sailing,” Prof K. Debbarma of NEHU said.
He said governance will never be good in a democracy without a strong Opposition as the pertinent issues will not be raised and that way, everything is “compromised”.
“It is not a healthy democracy. But what can one do as the leaders have their own calculations. They will calculate what will benefit them. After spending so much of money during elections, they will be thinking how they can recover it,” Debbarma said.
Prof Prasenjit Biswas of the same university said politics is a game of possibilities and therefore, different kinds of political equations are seen.
“In the case of Meghalaya Assembly, it was necessary to have an Opposition leader and former minister Ronnie Lyngdoh of the Congress, a veteran politician with enough wisdom and experience who stands for a certain kind of democratic principle and whose views are well known in public, was chosen” Biswas said.
“In the district council where he is again a member, a different political process made them to align (with NPP) for a certain cause by not following the typical pattern of ruling party and Opposition in the Assembly. This is because a district council is more like a cooperative and collaborative kind of a space where any opposition happens within that collaboration for development that is to be carried out in the Sixth Schedule,” Biswas said.
He said taking whatever stance is Lyngdoh’s own discretion but he should have been more prudent politically before taking any decision.
On VPP and TMC questioning the credibility of the Leader of Opposition, Biswas said, “If it is perceived that the Congress leader is managed by the ruling side then there will be some casting of doubt on his credibility.”
“So, politically it becomes difficult for Lyngdoh to defend his position. There will be a question in the minds of people on his two contrasting positions. Other opposition parties are justified in raising such questions,” the NEHU professor said.
At the same time, he said politics is such that what happens at the state-level may not repeat the same way at the district council-level. He said local issues bring people together at the district council.
“On local issues, the MDCs take decisions based on their personal wisdom and are not guided by the diktat of any political party nor is there any anti-defection law in the district council as in the Assembly,” Biswas said.
“Ronnie Lyngdoh’s collaboration with the ruling party does not mean he has become collaborator of the ruling party in the Assembly. It will be a gross mistake to judge him that way,” the political analyst said.
Talking about VPP and TMC, he said, “If it is an issue, then the Opposition will be divided but they will have floor coordination without which Opposition cannot stand as an Opposition.”
He said the Congress is emerging as a major Opposition countrywide and as such, it has to regulate its legislators.
“If the Congress leadership does not want to intervene here, then there will be a bigger division in the Opposition. The support for VPP is continuously increasing and it will be a stronger claimant than the Congress in the matter of re-nominating the Opposition leader if at all that can be done by the Assembly Speaker,” he added.