A Congress MLA has been given the Leader of Opposition (LO) with a rider perhaps. Ever since the MLA assumed that position he has had nothing but words of praise for the government. He even lauded the efficiency with which the police are functioning and this after he attended the State Security Commission meeting for the first time. Perhaps the LO has forgotten that the High Court has been rapping the police in the knuckles for the illegal mining and transportation of coal. But that is inevitable in a state where conflicts of interests have dominated politics. The same Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly is working in tandem with the NPP in the District Council where he is also a member. This half-hearted opposition role is going to cost the state heavily because the Opposition in the Assembly has now been effectively reduced to 10 MLAs. Perhaps the LO has trained himself to walk the tightrope. In a sense the LO has compromised on the principles of the Congress Party that are adhered to in the rest of the country. The Congress is virtually non-existent in Meghalaya. Perhaps the five Congress candidates who won recent elections did so on their own strength and therefore do not feel obliged to consult anyone for the moves they make and the decisions they take. It will be interesting to watch what moves the sitting Congress MP from Shillong Constituency makes and whether he will contest from the same party that he presides over.
Of the 36 constituencies that make up the Shillong Parliamentary Constituency, the Congress won in only 4 constituencies; the UDP has 12 MLAs, the NPP- 8 (plus the other 3 of MLAs of the PDF that joined the NPP recently; hence 11) and VPP- 4. The others are small players with 2 MLAs each. Going by this strength the NPP and UDP both stand a strong chance of winning should they set up Lok Sabha candidates. If the NPP and UDP, the two allies in the present MDA-2 government, can decide to work together and set up a common candidate, that person is likely to win hands down. In the present scenario the sitting Congress candidate has no chance of making it to parliament in 2024 unless he makes it on his own steam and popularity and the work he has done. But politics being what it is, that seems unlikely.
The Congress has remained silent in the face of all that’s not happening in the state. It has not said a word on the power scenario. Today only the VPP and TMC are playing their roles as the Opposition and calling out government lapses even though the Congress leader has been appointed the LO. This is a travesty that must be addressed especially in the light of the recent changes in the KHADC.
